Painful Wait While Hospital Bickers

Sydney Morning Herald

Wednesday October 24, 2007

Natasha Wallace Health Reporter

NSW HEALTH has blamed a surgeon at Royal North Shore Hospital for postponing an operation on a patient in excruciating pain - but the doctor has bluntly rejected the claim.

Sara Claridge, 26, who has endometriosis, has twice been booked in for surgery to remove pre-cancerous cells from her cervix. The original surgery date was September 27, which was cancelled on September 21. The operation was rescheduled for tomorrow, but she was told last Friday that it would be postponed again to November 22.

A Royal North Shore Hospital spokeswoman said "the decision to postpone was made by the surgeon". This was rejected by the surgeon, Peter Bland, who said he had no control over such decisions. "I was available to do my list. I was present and available but the list was cancelled," he said of the September 27 cancellation.

Ms Claridge, a mother of one from Greenwich, said yesterday she was taking up to eight Panadeine Forte tablets a day and had bled through her clothes in public several times.

The Herald understands that on at least one of the occasions the theatre had to be closed due to a shortage of nurses. Ms Claridge said she was simply told the theatre was closed. "The first time they cancelled, the only reason I was given was the theatre was closed. They didn't elaborate."

The second time, last Friday, she was initially told that "a more urgent case had come up" but when she questioned the administration about it again later that day she was told that the theatre was closed.

Ms Claridge's mother was diagnosed with cervical cancer at the age of 27 and had to have a hysterectomy. "Endometriosis causes infertility. The longer it's left the more chances you have of not being able to have children," Ms Claridge said.

The hospital's spokeswoman said yesterday that the "surgery was not postponed due to any closure of operating theatres".

The Health Minister, Reba Meagher, was forced to admit recently that the level of private health insurance in an area plays a role in how funds are distributed for hospitals, which doctors have said puts Royal North Shore at a disadvantage.

Ms Claridge said she had no private health cover and the operation would cost up to $10,000.

The hospital spokeswoman said Ms Claridge was "assessed as requiring surgery within 90 days". She was diagnosed a year ago and Dr Bland made the decision in June to operate.

The spokeswoman said the hospital had contacted Ms Claridge "and is investigating the possibility of an earlier date for surgery by transferring her care to another surgeon".

But Ms Claridge said that this was not true. She said nobody from the hospital had advised her of this, but her partner, Nick Bluhdorn, had phoned and suggested it on Friday. "We asked if there was another surgeon and as far as we are aware they said no," Ms Claridge said.

The Opposition's health spokeswoman, Jillian Skinner, said the delays showed the hospital "has been starved of resources".

© 2007 Sydney Morning Herald

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