Man, 86, disappointed over NHS hip operation delay

Terry Cartwright said the pain from his hip was so bad, he had no quality of life

A man has said he is disappointed in the NHS after spending thousands of pounds of his savings to pay for a private hip operation.

Terry Cartwright, 86, from Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, said he was told the operation would take one to two years on the NHS.

Private providers said they had seen a rise in patients at a time when the NHS is facing a treatment backlog.

NHS England said they were working hard to reduce wait times.

'Too long'

Mr Cartwright said his right hip had become very painful at the end of summer 2020.

"It was keeping me awake at night; it was taking over my life," he said.

Mr Cartwright said that at the end of December 2020, a consultant at Leicester General Hospital told him he would need a total hip replacement.

"When I asked how soon this could be, she said it would be at least a year, possibly two.

"That shook me. I went home and talked things over with my wife and we decided to look at some alternatives."

After approaching Spire Healthcare, a private company, Mr Cartwright was told he could have a replacement in about three months' time.

He said he used "thousands" from his savings to pay for the procedure.

'Unprecedented challenge'

"I didn't want to wait up to two years because the pain was so bad," he said.

"There was no quality of life. That's what made me decide to look into the private side.

"I was disappointed. I've paid tax and National Insurance all my working life.

"I know the NHS are under pressure and Covid has caused this backlog but the waiting time was too long.

"I do feel sorry for people who don't have access to the money, because I know what pain I was in."

University Hospitals of Leicester, the trust that operates the General, said the average wait for a hip operation was two years.

A spokesperson for Spire said the company had seen an 81% increase nationwide in self-pay spending - patients funding their own treatment - in the second three months of 2021, compared to the same period in 2019 and figures had remained high.

Private provider Circle also reported an increase.

A spokesperson for NHS England said: "Staff in NHS systems and hospital providers are working really hard to reduce waiting lists for elective treatment, and treat patients as soon as possible based on clinical need.

"We recognise though the unprecedented challenge the Covid pandemic has placed on elective care.

"This week, the government and NHS published our plan for tackling the backlog of elective care, which explains how we will transform services for our patients in the months and years to come."

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