Hi Folks, I posted some time ago about the poor communication with patients during their journey.
As a result of my abandoned RALP on 4th November due to previous scarring and intestine fusing to my abdomen, I became subject of a tertiary referral to UCL for the most appropriate perineal radical prostatectomy. During the last couple of months, the only update was that the multi disciplined team all agreed with my surgeon that this was an appropriate referral with the most appropriate procedure. I've since had a call from my surgeon 'suggesting' he himself is confused with the cause of delay in the referral whilst in the same breath, stating that the ONLY surgeon currently specialising in said procedure, has now gone completely private. He 'implied' therefore, that he would not be available to perform this procedure for me. Thereafter, Mr Sharma offered to "attempt" extraperitoneal key hole locally. Despite having notched up many RALP procedures himself, I was not completely convinced he spoke with any great confidence on the proposed procedure, (qoute: we may end up back at square one) which my research indicates as having a steep learning curve for less experienced surgeon due to the risks associated with restricted workspace and risk to NVBs when dissecting the seminal vesticles. I do have my suspicions that the, 'tail may be waging the dog'in this case, as perhaps the most appropriate and less risky procedure(agreed on by the multi disciplined team) doesn't lie well with those holding the purse strings.
I was wondering if anyone shares my suspicion, has knowledge of this procedure or advise on clarifying /confirming the rationale over the 'smokescreened' tertiary referral?
Your thoughts would be helpful. Cheers Del
Hello Del
I can't answer your question myself - but reading between the lines and your previous post I think you may well be right with your thoughts.
To me this matter is "time sensitive" in that going via the normal complaints pathway would take far too long and my honest answer to you is to pen an e-mail to your MP. Set out your entire journey up to the "tertiary referral" and ask him to look into the matter as this is a pressing medical matter, it needs to be resolved and is causing you anxiety.
I hope this helps, I know it's not the answer you expected but is a personal view (based on my experience with a medical issue my wife had where no one department wished to take responsibility).
Best wishes - Brian.
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Thank you Brian. Your view is valuable to me 
