Families are being left distraught as potentially lifesaving heart surgery for their children is repeatedly cancelled. Describing the situation as like "being left in limbo," they added that things are being made worse by the subsequent failure to then rebook those missed appointments.
One parent, who wished to remain anonymous, told of having to wait for eight hours at Bristol Royal Hospital for Children's paediatric intensive care unit in a space she described as being like a "cupboard" as there was "nowhere else for us to go". She added that, as night fell, there was still no bed available.
Meanwhile, having eventually been rescheduled for the next day, the operation was again called off. This time news of the cancellation came only after the young patient had already been put under and was en route to theatre.
