THE plight of a Stranraer man who has waited 14 months for knee surgery has been heard at Holyrood.
John Small, 87, a retired semi-pro footballer and former marathon runner, has severe osteoarthritis and was put on the list for a total knee replacement in January 2024.
His son, Gary is worried that the delay is causing his dad’s condition to deteriorate further. He said: “The big worry for me is at 87, he is 11 years above average life expectancy for a Scottish man. He has probably got to that age because he has kept himself very fit, but he is not able to do that any more (because of his knee pain). The chance is he is going to deteriorate; I am seeing it already. He can hardly walk. He is shuffling and limping and he’s really struggling on the stairs.”
Gary has chased NHS Dumfries and Galloway on his father’s behalf, only to be told it’s likely John will have to wait at least another four months for surgery, making his total time on the waiting list over 22 months.
South Scotland MSP Colin Smyth has taken John’s case to Holyrood urging the First Minister to tackle ‘appalling’ surgery waiting times in the region.
Speaking in the chamber last week, Colin Smyth said: “My constituent John Small has been on the waiting list for knee replacement surgery in NHS Dumfries and Galloway for 14 months.
“The First Minister keeps saying that things are getting better, but since April 2024, when he announced action to tackle waiting times, waits of more than 52 weeks for trauma and orthopaedic surgery in NHS Dumfries and Galloway have gone up every month.
“John is playing his part by trying to keep active, and he deserves a lot better. When will the Scottish Government play its part and tackle those appalling and rising waiting times for surgery?”
In his reply, John Swinney said: “The Government has put in place additional funding to national health service boards to deliver more procedures during this financial year. The target was to deliver 64,000 procedures, and we have delivered more than 75,500 surgeries and procedures to the end of January 2025, which means that we have exceeded the original plans on delivery.
“As a consequence of the Government’s budget and the work that is under way through the NHS improvement plan, we are expanding the capacity that is available in the health service, we are expanding the volume of procedures that are being undertaken and we are taking action to reduce the waiting times that Colin Smyth has asked me about today.”
Speaking after the session, Colin Smyth added : “John’s case really highlights the terrible human cost behind these figures.
“Living in constant pain and being unable to partake in normal, day-to-day activities is not only heartbreaking but completely unacceptable.”
In response, a spokesperson for NHS Dumfries and Galloway said: “In general terms, NHS Dumfries and Galloway continues to be one of the best performing mainland health boards in the country in relation to waiting times, with 13 per cent of inpatient cases waiting longer than 52 weeks against a 24.5 per cent average nationally.
“For outpatients and day cases, the median waiting time locally is 92 days for outpatients against a national average of 126 days, and with only one mainland board recording a shorter median waiting time.”
General manager of acute and diagnostics Callum Ambridge added: “We will continue to work to bring down all our waiting lists, whether for outpatients and inpatients. Our recruitment efforts, locally, nationally and internationally, are encouraging more qualified people to come and work in the region.
“Our clinical and operational teams continue to work extremely hard to deliver improvements in waiting times and this is proving successful. We expect our position to continue to improve over coming months and will work with our teams, our suppliers and our patients to ensure we continue to deliver the best possible care within the resources we have available to us.”
