'My daughter's surgery cannot be cancelled again'

Katie Steel and her mother Clare were looking forward to the surgery which would help correct Katie's spine

A teenager only has months left to undergo life-changing spinal surgery after a recent planned operation was cancelled.

Katie Steel, 17 - who has the condition scoliosis - was due to go into the operating theatre on Thursday.

But she was woken up after being prepared for surgery and told she had not had it.

Her mother Clare Steel was told that there were not enough intensive care staff to care for her afterwards.

She said that her daughter cannot have the surgery past her 18th birthday, which is in December, due to age limitations on the type of surgery Katie needs.

NHS Lothian apologised to patients who were affected by delays.

Ms Steel, a Labour councillor for Clydebank Central, said her family had been through "an absolute trauma".

Katie's condition will progressively worsen without the surgery, she added.

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Katie's mum told BBC Scotland's The Nine that by the time the surgery was cancelled, her daughter had already gone through her pre-operation procedures

She had spent several hours with the pain team, the surgeon and the physiotherapist, as well as getting X-rays and blood tests at the Edinburgh Royal Hospital for Children and Young People (RHCYP).

"By this point Katie had been in a sleep, she had been given her pre-meds and she was quite calm and settled," Ms Steel said.

"We were really happy about that because she had been anxious about going in to have surgery that could take eight or nine hours.

"Then we were waking her up and she thought she'd had the surgery, but we had to tell her that she hadn't and she wasn't going for it."

'Utterly appalling'

Last year, a BBC Disclosure investigation into Scotland's NHS revealed claims that nursing shortages at the RHCYP were contributing to some children waiting up to three times longer than pre-pandemic for spinal surgery.

And in March, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) said the number of children waiting for some services had more than doubled in the past 11 years.

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Ms Steel said she was angry for her daughter's sake.

"I didn't anticipate that we could get to that late stage, where the surgeon and anaesthetist are all standing by and ready, and then at the very last second the intensive care team tell us we can't go through with it," she said.

"It's utterly appalling. We were upset, we were shocked - I just didn't want to leave the hospital without Katie having her much-needed surgery.

"She'd already waited months and months on the list to have the surgery."

What is scoliosis?

Scoliosis is where the spine twists and curves to the side.

It can affect people of any age, from babies to adults, but most often starts in children aged 10 to 15.

Scoliosis can improve with treatment, but it is not usually a sign of anything serious and treatment is not always needed if the case is mild.

Katie's mother added added: "How can you explain something like that to someone who has been anticipating and having all these emotions and all the pain, everything that her body is doing to her with her scoliosis?

"Today should've been the first day post-op for Katie, we should've been caring for our daughter today but that hasn't happened.

"Katie is a really major case so the intensive care team know months in advance and other things had been planned like blood transfusions, it's a whole process and it all had to be cancelled.

"It's critical she gets the surgery before her 18th birthday.

"So her surgeon is looking at dates for next month and this really needs to get done. But this could happen again and that's a concern we have now."

Tracey Gillies, the medical director of NHS Lothian, said: "We are not able to discuss individual patients without their consent and would always urge any patients and their families with concerns to contact us directly.

"We know that rescheduling elective procedures can be very upsetting for our patients and their families and apologise sincerely to those who are affected by delays.

"We have been open and honest about the significant pressures being experienced across our entire healthcare system and their negative impact on elective procedures and waiting times."