"Front line care first class but administration a shambles"

In July 2023 I saw a Urology Consultant at a Medical Centre in Crawley who confirmed I needed an operation for both a Hernia and a Hydrocele and he wrote a letter to Redhill Hospital confirming this.

A month later, having heard nothing from Redhill  I contacted the hospital and was told there was a 20 week waiting list. I asked if that was for the operation and they said no, that was to see a Consultant at Redhill. I told them I'd already seen a consultant at Crawley but they said I also needed to see a consultant at Redhill and they said I would then have to wait for between 6 months and a year for the operation. 

By September I was in a lot of pain form the hernia so I contacted Redhill asking if the operation could be brought forward but I was told I'd have to get my GP to expedite it. I contacted my GP but he told me he had no way of expediting it because they take no notice of GPs. I even went back to the original consultant asking if he could expedite it but that made no difference either.

In Dec 2023 the pain from my hernia was so extreme I had no choice but to go private paying a large amount of money from my pension pot, but I made it clear that I wanted to remain on the NHS list for the hydrocele operation.

In Feb 2024 I still hadn't heard from Redhill about my hydrocele operation so I got in touch with them again, only to find out that I was no longer on the list for an operation and I had to restart the process all over  again. Seeing my GP, seeing yet another consultant, having another ultra scan to get back on the list.

I did phone Redhill in April to make sure I definitely was on the list which they did confirm.

I still hadn't heard anything in July so I again phoned Redhill and this time the person I spoke to had some sympathy for me with regards to the length of time this had taken and she offered me an operation within a couple of weeks.  Unfortunately that clashed with already planned events and it was suggested I give them a call in September after the events had finished.

I called again in mid Sept, explained the situation and once again there was a lot of sympathy for my situation and they offered me an operation just 4-days later, which I gratefully accepted.

I arrived at Crawley hospital on the day of the operation and everything from the time I arrived until I left 6.5 hours later went very well, staff were really attentive, operation went smoothly and everything from start to finish was explained in detail.

The above is a shortened version of how the whole process went, in total  I waited 15 months for the hydrocele operation, having originally been told it was a simple operation and would only take a few months. I had 3  face to face meetings with my GP plus numerous phone calls, numerous phone calls to Redhill hospital, I met consultants on 5 different occasions and made 6 trips to hospital (not including my hernia which was done privately).

The front line care people I met were all first class and very professional but the administration and waste of resources, time and effort to resolve this was  a complete shambles (with the exception of the people I spoke to in July and Sept). It was completely inefficient.