The daughter of a West Belfast man with multiple medical conditions says she feared for his health after a planned procedure was cancelled just 24 hours before he was due to have it.
Lisa Rogan's father George, from Poleglass, was due to have surgery on an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) on November 15. After calling to arrange a bed the day before, George soon learned that he would not be attending for surgery he had "mentally prepared for".
Speaking to Belfast Live, Lisa said it had caused much distress to their family when they were told his procedure was cancelled.
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"My daddy has an awful lot of illnesses that he has dealt with from his early 30s," she added.
"He has cardiomyopathy, a heart condition called AF, primary immune deficiency syndrome and with all these hospital appointments he has had over the years, they detected he had an AAA.
"That was being monitored every year, and once it measured over a certain size, they then monitored it every three months. My dad took a heart attack in 2013 and he was blue-lighted to hospital when he mentioned he had the AAA.
"It has been monitored every three months now, and up until June it was measuring at 6.2mm - anything over 5mm is life-threatening. It was then decided that intervention was going to be taken and he would be getting surgery. It was scheduled for November 15, but he was going to be taken in on the 14th.
"Daddy had to isolate, do his Covid-19 tests, all of that. It was tough on him. We were told to ring on the 14th between 11 and 12 and I couldn't get through. We waited until 4pm and got a phone call to say the surgery wasn't going to go ahead and there were no beds. We were told it would be sooner rather than later.
"There was so much mental preparation involved in this. I had taken two days off work for it to be there with him."
In a statement to Belfast Live today, the Belfast Trust said vascular surgeries are continuing, and that "patients are being clinically prioritised for admission as soon as possible". They also issued an apology to Mr Rogan and his family.
On Thursday, November 24, the Rogan family were contacted by the Trust and were given a new date for his procedure, which will take place on December 14. Lisa welcomed this news but said the ordeal with the cancellation was distressing.
She added: "My concern was, that this AAA would rupture. He was left in limbo last week. The surgery needs done, not sooner rather than later, as soon as possible.
"He was just drained by this. This is a major surgery and he had gone through so much to prepare himself for it, it took a lot for him to actually go ahead with it.
"We started to ring private clinics, but they are so expensive. We are grateful that we now have a date, because we know someone who has had this surgery, and he is like a new man. We want that for our daddy because he has been through a lot."
A statement from the Trust read: "Belfast Trust sincerely apologises to Mr Rogan and his family for the postponement of his procedure. Vascular surgery is continuing at the Trust and patients are being clinically prioritised for admission as soon as possible. We understand that the postponement has caused concern and we have been in touch with Mr Rogan to reassure him and confirm a new date for his procedure."
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