'Complex system delayed urgent care for amputee'

A father went from playing golf to losing a leg and spending months lost in a "confusing, fragmented care system", his daughter has said.

Sarah Teasdale told bosses at an NHS Surrey & Sussex Integrated Care Board (ICB) meeting on Wednesday that staff were "absolutely amazing" and saved her father's life, but that the care system was "incredibly complex", leaving her to coordinate everything herself.

Board members agreed improvements were needed, admitting the system was "complicated and poorly joined up", with one senior figure stating: "We focus on the task, but forget the whole patient journey."

Ian Smith, chair of the NHS Surrey & Sussex ICB, recognised "genuine concerns" were raised.

"We know that navigating what is a complex health and care system is often both confusing and frustrating," he said.

"Hearing directly from patients and their families about their experience of local healthcare is essential in helping us make the right improvements."

Smith also thanked Teasdale, whom the board invited to the meeting on Wednesday, for sharing her experience.

He added the board needed to consider the issues she raised.

Teasdale said her father was "active and social" in August 2024 but fell ill that Christmas.

He was admitted to East Surrey Hospital in Redhill and placed in community care in January 2025.

His health "quickly worsened" and he was rushed back into hospital in February 2025 with a serious infection, she said.

He was later transferred for specialist treatment in April 2025, where doctors amputated his leg, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Teasdale said that her father was in hospital and rehab for months.

He is now at home, using a prosthetic leg and rebuilding his independence, she added.

Despite praising frontline care, Teasdale said that navigating the system felt "overwhelming".

"I had seven phone numbers and no clue who did what," she said.

She added that there was "little clarity" over who was responsible, claiming she was given "almost no clear information throughout the process".

Teasdale said that it took about five months for her father's wheelchair to arrive, while home adaptations "dragged on for months".

She also called for "simple changes", including clearer guidance, fewer contact points and better signposting to support.

Speaking at the NHS Surrey & Sussex Integrated Care Board meeting on Wednesday, a senior member said that the service needed to ensure the best contact was made with patients "so all the right pathways are working together".

Some members said that accessing wheelchairs on time was a "national problem", while others welcomed the idea of looking at working with charities in the future as a short-term solution for long wait for wheelchairs.

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