CROYDON University Hospital has apologised after a mix-up led procedures to be booked at a clinic when it was actually closed.
A number of patients turned up at the hospital's fracture clinic for scheduled procedures on Monday only to find it was shut.
The clinic only opens on Monday afternoons every other week but an administrative error led appointments to be booked for the wrong week.
Barry Ridge's wife Karen had her broken ankle put in a plaster at the clinic last Thursday and was due for a follow up appointment on Monday.
"When we got to the end of the corridor we were met by a crowd of people and raised voices and a long queue winding around the room," he said.
"A nurse walked past and I asked her if what was going on and she said the fracture clinic had been cancelled.
"A lady standing behind me, who had brought her elderly mother in with a very swollen and badly bruised face, thought they were joking.
"They had come all the way from Crawley and had to walk around the hospital because no wheelchairs were available.
"The nurse offered no apology or explanation. There was no information readily available to so we went home."
A spokesman for Croydon Health Services, the trust which runs the hospital, said: "Patients booked to attend on Monday afternoon have had to have their appointments rescheduled and were seen within the next 72 hours.
"We apologise to anyone who was put to any inconvenience."
