Take note: op stopped over lost records

John Ellis, 71, was in his gown ready to undergo surgery when at the last second he was told the anesthetist wouldn’t operate because his notes had been misplaced last week.

He returned to the L&D on Tuesday for an eye check-up and after a long wait he and many other patients were sent home because no one could find their records.

Mr Ellis, of Jeans Way, Dunstable, said: “The L&D is an absolute shambles. The place was heaving with people, many of whom were elderly or partially sighted like me, and the staff kept coming into the waiting room apologising and sending them home without being seen.

“The same thing happened to me a week before. When my operation was cancelled I was actually in my gown ready to go before they realised they didn’t have my notes. For many people it’s difficult to get to the hospital so to be sent home again once you’re there is terrible.

“How can the consultants remember every patient coming through the door? They need their notes.”

A spokesperson from the L&D said: “The L&D has recently re-located its Health Records Library and the Trust has experienced some difficulties implementing this project. This has caused administrative problems in some areas and resulted in cancellations in a small number of cases due to delays in case notes being delivered to clinics.

“The hospital is in the process of writing to any patients affected to apologise for the inconvenience caused. Moving the Health Records Library is a crucial stage in the building of the new £5.5million Cardiac Centre. The centre will enable local patients to have a range of coronary investigations and treatment at the L&D instead of travelling to London or elsewhere.”