John Launer: Pressing the pause button—how my operation was cancelled

Recently, I found myself booked in for an operation that was cancelled at the last minute. When I say the last minute, I mean it quite literally. I was admitted to the day ward, signed my consent form, waited several hours for my turn, and was wheeled into the operating theatre. Only then was the whole thing called off. You may think from this account that the consultant was probably called away to an emergency because the juniors were on strike, or there was a last minute technical glitch such as a fault in the oxygen supply. Neither was the case. When you’re a doctor as well as a patient, matters are rarely so straightforward. What happened was that the consultant changed his mind.I won’t bore you with unnecessary details. Essentially, I’d been booked for a revision of a cardiovascular procedure done at another hospital. I’d discussed this with the…
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