Covid: Winchester hospital tackles hip surgery waiting list

Staff say they are trying "as best as they can" and numbers for those waiting have fallen "in recent months"

The number of people waiting for joint replacements is falling for the first time since the pandemic, surgeons say.

The orthopaedic team at Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester are working longer days and weekends to get through their waiting list.

They said staff were trying "as best as they can" and the number of those waiting had fallen "in recent months".

Hip and knee replacements make up about 40 per cent of those waiting for surgery, hospital staff said.

Patient Janet Carter said her surgery would be a "new beginning" after a year of painful hips

Elective surgeries were cancelled in large numbers during the pandemic, when hospitals were filled with Covid-19 patients.

Now, hospital staff say if a patient is referred for joint-replacement surgery, the operation would take place within a year.

Patient Peter Whitmarsh was told in April he would have to wait at least eight months for a knee replacement and is due to have his operation in November.

He said: "There's been so much the NHS has had to do with Covid, that my knee was the least of their problems as far as I was concerned, but happy I'm here now."

Fellow patient Janet Carter is getting a full hip replacement after a year of being in pain but said her surgery would "hopefully be a new beginning".

Chief executive of the hospital, Alex Whitfield, said urgent care was their priority and asked patients to be patient if they had to wait

Chief executive of the hospital, Alex Whitfield, said elective surgeries were being arranged by "clinical priority" and those with urgent needs like cancer operations or something life saving were put "at the front of the list".

She added: "We're doing everything we can but we do need people to be a bit patient about how we are managing at the moment."

Hospital staff hope to continue with planned care during the winter months, but say beds are already being filled with urgent medical cases.

Consultant orthopaedic surgeon David Hartwright, said: "We are working as hard as we can to provide the best service through the NHS.

"I think the important thing is to try and keep throughput as best we can, but not at the expense of caring for those particularly urgent cases that are coming through."