'I've been waiting years in agony for a hip operation'

A BED-BOUND man has been waiting for years in increasing agony for a hip replacement, only to keep being told that his surgery is being pushed back.

- TED PESKETT

Tony Dance, from St Mellons, Cardiff, has had osteoarthritis in his left hip for several years, but his condition grew worse over time until he got to the point of needing an operation two years ago.

He had already been waiting for more than a year after receiving a GP's referral when he was first given an operation date, which was the end of this March.

Despite letters from medical professionals stating that Tony's osteoarthritis had become significantly worse and acknowledging that he was in "severe pain", this date was put back to this month and then again to August 11.

Tony's wife, Donna, said: "I'm just disgusted with the whole system. They've let us down. My husband's been ill for years. He's had operations and he's never kicked up a fuss, but this time it's unbearable to see what state he's in.

"He's getting neglected. In the last couple of weeks, he's become bedbound. If you could hear the noise his hip makes it doesn't sound like it's in the joint. It's just clunking and every time he moves he's in absolute agony."

Tony, 65, said: "The only thing that'll touch it [the pain] is for me to stay in bed, rest it and even in bed the slightest movement... well, if you could hear the cracking and the crunching - it sounds like a firework display. I'd love to know how they grade people on a list."

A referral letter sent by a doctor in August last year asked for Tony, who is also an amputee below his right knee, to be seen urgently by a surgeon.

The letter, which details the "significantly worsening" condition of Tony's osteoarthritis, states that a GP referred him "over a year ago" and that he did not appear to be on any waiting list for an operation.

Tony was then seen in October last year by an orthopaedic surgeon, who later acknowledged in a letter that "any attempt at moving your left hip causes you severe pain" and that an x-ray showed he has end stage osteoarthritis.