Parents of children awaiting heart surgery in Bristol feel they are being “left in limbo” due to repeated cancellations. They also say poor communication afterwards about rescheduling has increased their stress.
The Paediatric Intensive Care Unit at Bristol Royal Children’s Hospital is the only unit of its kind in the South West, with children travelling from as far away as Cornwall and Wales to receive open heart surgery. But NHS pressures have seen some surgeries cancelled at short notice due to emergency patients taking priority for beds.
Parents of two children have shared their experience as they ride the "emotional rollercoaster" of waiting for elective surgery. The hospital trust has apologised for the distress caused and said cancellations are always a "last resort", but that it is seeing increased demand due to "a high number of children with acute respiratory infections arriving as emergencies".
