North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood has this week called on the First Minister to respond to a North Wales patient who has already been waiting nearly two years for bilateral knee replacements.
Speaking in the Assembly Chamber this week, Mr Isherwood asked Carwyn Jones how the Welsh Government is ensuring that patients in Wales have access to orthopaedic surgeons and referred to the case of one of his constituents, who on December 8th this year will have been on the waiting list for an operation for two years.
He said:
“On a number of occasions over the years of devolution, Welsh Government has produced pots of money to reduce waiting times if they've become excessive. In 2017-18, the median waiting time for knee surgery in Betsi Cadwaladr University Local Health Board was 339 days, up 95 days on the previous year. Over 61 per cent of those currently waiting for trauma and orthopaedic operations are waiting over a year.
“How do you respond to my constituent, let's say Mr LB, who's been on a waiting list since 8 December 2016 for bilateral total knee replacements? The Health Board wrote to me this month, saying, 'We estimate we won't be able to offer him a date for surgery now until May 2019' - over 500 days. Mr LB says he has had nothing but the greatest support from his GP and his Consultant, but he's a virtual cripple at 63, in constant, excruciating pain.”
In his response, the First Minister stated “additional resources have been made available to appoint more consultants and surgeons, and we are seeing that reflected in the reduction in the number of people waiting. And as far as Mr LB is concerned, I can give him the assurance that we will continue to look at how we can provide more resources and I hope that he gets his operation soon.”