The letter on the need to increase the surgical capacity of the NHS (March 3) from Tim Mitchell, the President of the Royal College of Surgeons, resonated with me as a patient awaiting a total knee replacement. I have been waiting for my operation for a year, but the hospital cannot give me any idea when I can have my operation.
From being extremely fit and active, my life has shrunk and become one limited by pain and immobility. I cannot travel or enjoy my usual activities such as hiking, and I cannot care for my young grandchildren. The impact of this is, unsurprisingly, to make me feel somewhat depressed. If I have to wait another three years for my surgery, I wonder what my mental and physical health will be like.
I’ve realized that there are many other patients like me – we are on the younger end of the spectrum for this type of routine surgery (I’m 66), and we are fit and healthy, apart from our need for surgery. We could easily be sent to surgical centers, which would allow more complex cases to be treated in the hospital.
I have no doubt that there are personnel and other implications for this type of operation. However, the consequences for the country’s health, wellbeing and economy if something is not proactively done to address waiting lists for routine surgeries are greater.
Alexandra McTeare
Bridport, Dorset