Waiting for a knee replacement

gidgeclev

Hi,

This is my first post. I'm currently fighting my way through the NHS procedures to get a referral to an orthopaedic surgeon for a replacement left knee. In the meantime I'm also pursuing the private option (much against my principles!). I'm getting very fed up with the restriction to my normal activities as even walking 1K is now painful but trying to stay active. Does anyone know what the NHS waiting time in Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells HA is?

Naomi33

Afternoon @gidgeclev and welcome to the online community.

Sorry to hear your concerns about your left knee and NHS.

My friend went down the private route and got her hip operation a lot quicker so maybe worth enquiring she is now doing the same for new knee (Shropshire area tho)🤷‍♂️

I am sure others will connect with you soon.

Best wishes @Naomi33

Bryony

My suggestion would be to go private for the initial appointment. Make sure it is with a surgeon who also works on the NHS. You can find out details of all the orthopaedic surgeons in your area on the National Joint Registry, which will tell you how many partial and total knee replacements, hip replacements etc they have done in the last 3 years, and other useful information.

https://surgeonprofile.njrcentre.org.uk/

I think the fee for that first appointment is about £250. The wait is probably just a week or two. Then, if they decide you are suitable for joint replacement, get them to move you onto the NHS waiting list, if you can't or don't want to fork out c £17,000 for private surgery. That way your wait for the first appointment will be very short, and you should get your knee surgery done within a year. I'd also not let on until being told you are suitable for knee surgery that you want to be transferred to the NHS list. You'll understand why when you read further down.

I didn't know this nearly 3 years ago, when my x-rays showed bone on bone in both knees. I spent over a year having to go through all the procedures - pain killers, physio etc before I eventually got referred, by which point every step was painful, my left knee was buckling multiple times a day, my right knee multiple times a week, I was going up the stairs on all fours, and it was now 3 years of disturbed sleep every night from the pain and discomfort from my knees, and 3 years of doing physiotherapy exercises, and I'd had to give up my job.

My first appointment kept getting cancelled. I was eventually seen at week 51 from referral. If you are not treated by week 52 the hospital gets fined £2500.

The registrar that I saw had clearly been told by the consultant to find any possible reason to move me off the waiting list, to avoid the fine. His first sentence was 'I forgot to look to see how you walk', and he got me to walk a few steps. His second sentence was 'you will not benefit from knee replacement', and completely shut down discussion of it. This was before he took my history and looked at my x-rays. He said he didn't expect to see much on my X-rays, until he looked and discovered they were both bone on bone, and he very quickly shut closed the images and moved the conversation on. The 'treatment' he prescribed was physiotherapy and knee braces, both of which had been tried and had failed. Problem solved for them, I'd been given my 'treatment' before the year was up. No £2500 fine, and I was now moved off the waiting list.

So a further wait of 6 months to see if the 'treatment' had worked (it hadn't, and now my hip and foot were persistently painful due to gait disturbance from the knees) The follow up appointment in August with a different registrar, same X rays as the first registrar had looked at - told me my knees are completely worn out and both need replacing, and asked how long I'd been needing to use 2 walking canes (4 years). Back onto the waiting list, and I'm back at the bottom, and the waiting time is approx 1 year for the first knee, a further 4 months for the second, as my muscles are now too deconditioned to do them at the same time.

This is how some consultants are manipulating the lists to make it appear that the time people are waiting is much lower than it actually is, and also to avoid the fines. This is why people are waiting and left in pain for years.

If back in January 2023 if I had known to do what I suggest, and had gone for a private first referral both my knee replacements would have been carried out maybe last year or by spring early this year. Mine are unlikely to have been completed now before December 2025. And of course I can't get a blue badge as my condition might have treated by 18 months time.

For anyone in a similar position but seeing an NHS consultant /registrar for their first appointment, DO use a walking stick, don't just hobble in. That was the mistake I made. I was still trying to get by with my old hiking poles, which were OK on outdoor ground, but dangerous on shiny indoor floors, so I'd had to leave them in my car and not use them in the hospital. The first registrar had noted that I wasn't using a walking aid, and that counted against me.