"Minor surgery after cycling accident"

I recently spent time in hospital following a cycling accident. I was admitted to A&E and seen very quickly, sent for X-rays on my neck (all-clear) and then seen by a doctor on the plastics ward, who said I needed a minor operation to have facial wounds cleaned and stitched up. I stayed in overnight, fasting from midnight. Unfortunately my operation the following day was repeatedly postponed and finally (at 9pm) cancelled due to an exceptionally busy day. I spent the second night at home, returning at 8am, and finally getting into surgery at 10.30am. I was allowed home that afternoon.

Although the staff were generally kind, helpful and sympathetic I do have two small complaints.

Firstly, being kept waiting all day without food or water for a minor operation and then having to repeat the fasting exercise the following day cannot, I suggest, be good for a body that is trying desperately to heal itself! By 5pm I had to ask to be put on a drip as I felt so dehydrated. Perhaps the decision to postpone could have been made sooner, or I could have been offered the choice to put it off until the next day, allowing me more time to refuel and rehydrate my body before I had to fast again?

Secondly, I was given inadequate advice about how to treat my wounds once I got home (what to put on them, what not to, whether and how to wash my face) and after a sleepless night I ended up coming back into the ward to speak to a doctor. More structured advice before I was discharged could have saved me a trip and no doubt been less of a drain on staff time.