A Tayside woman has told how a Ninewells Hospital appointment confusion made her miss a close friend’s funeral.
Helen Ogilvie, 52, of Monifieth, had been waiting two hours in her pyjamas when she was told it was “too busy” for her colonoscopy to be carried out.
She now faces an anxious wait for another appointment for the procedure which can check for cancer or precancerous growths in the colon.
Miss Ogilvie had previously found blood during a bowel screening and concerns were raised again after a follow-up scan.
She said she was extremely worried and slept very little the night before she got on the bus from Monifieth to Ninewells with her suitcase.
“A dear friend of mine was being laid to rest on the same day as my hospital appointment,” she said.
“I desperately wanted to go to the funeral but I had to put my health first. It said on the letter there was no need to call on the day as a bed would be available for me.
“However, I phoned just to make sure and I was assured that everything was going ahead as planned. I was put on the ward and got changed but 10 minutes later they moved me to a side room.
“I was sat on a bed for two hours in my pyjamas.
“A male member of staff then came in and said I should be having fluids if I was going to have a colonoscopy and he would go and see what was happening.
“The next minute the senior nurse came in and told me I would have to be sent home because they were too busy.
“I couldn’t believe it. They said they would send me out another letter and reschedule.”
Miss Ogilvie said she understands emergencies can happen but is angry that nobody told her in advance that she wouldn’t be seen.
“If they had told me they were too busy when I called in the morning then I could have gone to the funeral and said goodbye to my friend,” she said.
An NHS Tayside spokesman said: “Over the last few days we have been experiencing exceptional demand on our system as we manage winter pressures. Unfortunately, this higher number of unscheduled admissions has had a knock-on effect on our ability to deliver routine procedures and we have had to defer some non-urgent, elective procedures across Tayside.
“Emergency and urgent surgeries and all cancer procedures were carried out as scheduled.
“The decision to defer procedures was taken as a last resort as we know the distress this will have caused to these patients and their families and we apologise for this. We are in the process of contacting patients again to arrange a suitable alternative date for their procedure.”