Woman 'too scared' to go to hospital after 'botched' procedures at University Hospital of Wales
Report by ITV Wales correspondent Richard Morgan
A grandmother who needs an operation to have her gallbladder removed said she is "too scared" to go to hospital following her experience with "botched procedures".
Lisa Vickery, from Pentre, said she would "rather suffer in pain" than have surgery.
She said it's because she's twice been left with internal bleeding - or haematomas - after procedures at the University Hospital of Wales.
According to Ms Vickery, medics failed to give her the correct dose of Factor XI, a clotting agent.
"They administered Factor XI to me [before the procedures] to stop me from bleeding," she said.
"But after the procedure, because I wasn't bleeding from the dental extraction, they decided not to give me a top-up of factor.
"I explained I needed to have the factor after I had the extraction done. But he still refused."
On two separate occasions – in August and September last year – Ms Vickery claims she was left with haematomas after doctors allegedly ignored her pleas.
Both times, the 54-year-old claims she was ignored when she alerted staff that she'd been given an insufficient amount of Factor XI.
In September last year, she says the on-call doctor at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff refused to see her after she reported concerns about a developing haematoma.
She also told ITV Cymru Wales that a senior doctor had acknowledged mistakes had been made, but refused to provide an acknowledgement in writing.
Ms Vickery says the final straw came when she claims staff failed to mention her previous complications in a pre-operation 'action-plan' drawn up prior to gallbladder surgery, originally scheduled for December.
As a result, Ms Vickery refused to have the operation, and says she won't change her mind until the health board acknowledges its errors.
In a statement, the Cardiff and Vale University Health Board said it was sorry to hear about Ms Vickery's experience, and encouraged her to meet with its concerns team to discuss her care further.
It said that patient safety is of paramount importance and patient feedback is always taken on board.
But Ms Vickery is adamant that she won't change her mind and will continue living in discomfort until the hospital "owns up to its mistakes".
"I want them to give me the adequate treatment, the adequate care that I deserve," she said.
"Also it's not just me who's a haemophiliac.
"My daughter, my son, my grandson, my granddaughter are also haemophilia sufferers, the same as myself.
"And I wouldn't want to see them suffer the way that I have."
Ms Vickery says she knows the NHS is under pressure, but feels she simply isn't being listened to.A spokesperson for Cardiff and Vale University Health Board said: “We are very sorry to hear about Ms Vickery's experience in our Health Board.
“While we are unable to comment on individual cases, we would encourage Ms Vickery to meet with our concerns team if she would like to discuss any aspect of her care further."The safety of our patients is always of paramount importance and as a Health Board, we always take on board patient feedback and regularly review our procedures.“Staffing across the health and social care sector is under significant pressure at the moment, and, unfortunately, there are times when patients may have to wait longer to be seen. We are very sorry for any delays that patients may experience."
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