Ok because I know protocols and procedures
My husband fractured his wrist following a fall from a ladder on the 14 Feb 2020. The A&E experience at Whipps Cross was excellent. He was told that he would need an operation and to expect it to happen the following week. An orthopaedic doctor telephoned on 16 Feb informing my husband that he would have his operation the following day and that he was to fast from midnight and he would receive a phone call around 8am the next morning, to let him know what time he would need to be at the hospital. The phone call did not happen and after a couple of hours on the phone trying to find someone to help I spoke to doctor from the orthopaedic team who said that my husband was not on the theatre list that day and that he could be waiting for up to 14 days for the operation. I explained that my husband still worked and had his own business and it was not acceptable for him to wait for this long for the operation. The doctor told me in a very patronising way that I didn’t understand the way hospitals worked so couldn’t understand why there would be a wait. I told him of my experience as a nurse, director and now as a volunteer for Health Watch and as a member of the Patients Panel at Whipps Cross. He told me he would ring me back and with in the hour my husband was having a scan and the next day had his operation at Whipps Cross Hospital. The pre and post operation care on Plane Ward was excellent and as was the follow up appointment at out patients department. My husband had a temporary plate fixed in his wrist and this was to be removed in 6 weeks. He had an appointment for 1 April and the expectation at that time was that the plate would be removed the following week. Unfortunaly the country went into lock down. My husband had a phone call telling him that his appointment would be over the phone. The appointment never happened we had several texts and letters telling us we had an appointment in out patients, on checking we were informed that it was a telephone call. During this time, he had five missed appointment calls, my husband was getting very concerned both about the repercussions of not having not having the plate removed and having to go into hospital with all the issues around covid19. He received a letter telling him that a doctor had rang but no answer. Then he received a letter saying he was discharged because he hadn’t turned up for his appointment, which was all very distressing for him. Eventually a doctor rang and told him it was imperative that he had the plate removed and then a couple of days later another doctor rang and told him that he didn’t need it removed. He did!! Another doctor told him he might die from coronavirus if he had an operation. Eventually I managed to speak to a fantastic clinical manager. Who explained that all the theatres were closed except for emergencies but she would get a doctor to speak to us and arrange for the operation to remove the plate. He had the plate removed on 10 June. He had great care once again both pre and post op. But had 4 missed follow up appointments by the hospital until we spoke to the clinical manger who managed to get a doctor to speak with my husband on 26 August. He told my husband that he would organise physio for him but up to today we have heard nothing. Luckily my husband is fairly fit and has been doing his own exercises. We were lucky as I knew who to talk to and what questions to ask. I know the hospital protocols and procedures but many patients are not able to circumnavigate the system.