‘I have had to fight for the operation for five years. I cried when I found out it was cancelled’
HOSPITAL PATIENTS’ DEVASTATION AFTER ‘VITAL’ LIFE-TRANSFORMINGRMING OPERATIONS CANCELLED
AMID the tragic deaths and the e devastating impact on the commu- nity, there is one group of people e who seem to have been forgotten n about who are deeply affected by the e coronavirus pandemic.
There are thousands of people out there awaiting operations and procedures which, while not necessarily life-saving, would be life-transforming.
On Thursday the Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust announced it would have to reschedule some routine day surgery, elective procedures and outpatient appointments following a significant increase in patients being admitted with Covid-19.
However, urgent and emergency surgery continues as normal and patients will be contacted if there treatment is set to change.
But that decision has crushing blow for some been a people
Hull Royal Infirmary on Friday as the city again became the country’s area with the highest rate of coronavirus infection desperately l waiting i i f for operations i that could massively improve their quality of life.
One woman, 35, of east Hull, has been waiting a long time for a full hysterectomy and was due to have an operation i on November 19 19.
The woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, said: “I have had to fight for the operation for five years and I’ve been on the waiting l list for more than a year.
“The hospital said it would take place before Christmas 2019 then it changed to March, then changed to June.
“I had my pre-op on Wednesday (November 11) which was then was cancelled the next day and they have not given me a new date.”
It has been devastating news for the woman who is concerned about the strong painkillers she has to rely on.
She said: “I am absolutely gutted. I cried most of the day when I found out.
“I’m constantly in pain and have to take regular medication and injections which are very painful.
“The operation would drastically help as I wouldn’t be in pain all the time.
“Also, the medication they have prescribed is an addictive medication as it is opioid based, so I am unable to drive while on it.”
The woman had hoped the operation could go ahead as it is not in the main part of Hull Royal Infirmary.
She said: “I totally understand we are in a pandemic, but I won’t even be in the main hospital I would be in the Women’s and Children’s Hospital.
“I think that people who have been on the waiting list should still be able to get their operations. I think we have been forgotten.
Another woman, from Hessle, is desperately worried for a family member who has cancer and needs a tumour to be removed.
She said: “He was due to have cancer surgery next week, but Castle Hill has called and cancelled due to Covid.
“This surgery is urgent. He has an enormous tumour, but they’ve cancelled. He has stage three cancer and surgery is his best chance of being cancer-free.”
The woman admits the family are reeling by the news.
She said: “Without the surgery, it will spread so he may need to have more chemo.
“We are devastated and anxious, but we feel so bad for the staff at the hospital having to make this choice. We hope it’s only a short delay, but we actually have no idea yet.”
The woman says she doesn’t blame the hospital but has urged people to adhere to the rules and stop the spread of the virus.
She said: “People need to take it seriously. It’s not just non-urgent ops that are being cancelled now.
“We understand the hospital’s decision. We 100 per cent blame people who have not been following the rules and the Government for not locking us down sooner.
“The hospital are incredible, I feel for them and worry for the staff and the pressure they must be under.”
On Thursday chief operating officer Teresa Cope explained why some procedures had been cancelled.
She said: “We’ve seen a sudden and dramatic increase in patients with Covid-19 who need to be admitted to our hospitals over the past fortnight and it’s continuing to climb, reflecting the high numbers of people in the city currently being diagnosed with the virus.
“It has become increasingly clear that if we are to have the capacity and staff to care for these patients, we have to reschedule our other work.
“We know this will impact on patients and we are really sorry that we are having to do this. We are deeply sorry to every person affected by this decision. We assure them that we will seek to restart all of our services as soon as possible.
“Thank you for bearing with us through these difficult times, the toughest any of us have ever experienced in the NHS.”
This decision comes as Hull and the East Riding’s hospitals are just 14 days way from caring for 400 coronavirus patients at once while Hull’s director of public health Julia Weldon admitted the city is in a the midst of a “public health crisis”.
Hull has since become the area with England’s worst Covid-19 infection rate.