'I waited six years for a knee operation - you begin to think no-one cares'

For Patrick McGonagle, the agony of a deteriorating knee has persisted for over six years while he languished on a waiting list for surgery. The 71-year-old from Strabane was originally given a two-year estimate for a right knee replacement, but that timeline stretched to six years—three times longer than anticipated. He describes the sensation as "bone rubbing on bone," a condition that has severely hampered his ability to drive, move, and maintain a decent quality of life.

Compounding his ordeal, his left knee began to fail while he was already on the waitlist, presenting what he calls "another hurdle" he must now overcome. This personal struggle coincides with broader efforts to address the crisis; last Thursday, the Stormont Executive announced an £80 million ringfenced fund aimed at reducing the longest and most critical hospital waiting lists over the next 12 months. This injection of cash is part of the government’s programme for government pledge to slash health backlogs.

The Limits of Pain Management

McGonagle, who finally underwent surgery last Friday, revealed that even powerful painkillers eventually lost their efficacy. "I've been on Tramadol now for five years, so it's now got the stage where Tramadol doesn't work anymore with it," he explained. However, stopping the medication was not an option. "If I don't take the Tramadol, I'm all shaky - I'm like a car on three cylinders all the time. It's a constant gnawing pain on both knees now, so I get the right one done now and the left one has to be done after that."

The uncertainty of the wait took a significant psychological toll. "Waiting meant worrying," McGonagle admitted. "You can think to yourself: 'I'm not going to be mobile'. I'm the kind of person that needs to be doing something all the time and I have to be up and active all the time, so it does worry you."

Life Revolves Around Mobility

The physical restrictions forced him to alter his daily existence. Walking and driving long distances became significant challenges, requiring meticulous planning. "You pre-plan everything before you go out of the door, so you don't have to walk any distance," he said. He noted that the constant need to strategize his movements makes him feel older than his years. "I feel a lot older than I actually am because I'm planning where I'm going to walk and I'm planning where I'm going to stop."

Simple tasks became sources of distress. "There's days you're in that much pain, getting up off a chair is very, very painful," he said. "Your life revolves around being mobile. And if you can't be mobile, your quality of life's not good."

Frustration with the System

McGonagle admitted he had lost hope of ever receiving surgery. Regular calls from the hospital every six or seven months asking if he still required the procedure offered little comfort. "You'd be going: 'Well, nothing has changed, if anything it's got worse'," he recalled. He attributed the delays not to the hospital staff, but to political and financial constraints. "It's nothing to do the hospital really. It's to do with the government and money. Hopefully things will change now. Stormont can allocate more money for this type of thing."

The final months before his surgery were marked by cancellations that tested his resolve. "I finally got his operation on the third attempt," he recounted. "Nine weeks ago, I came in and it was booked on a Thursday and on a Friday morning they called it off. Four weeks ago, I was on my way to here and they phoned me and called it off."

These last-minute cancellations required him to rearrange travel and accommodation for stays lasting several days or nights. "It's not only inconvenient but you reach a stage where you think this is not going to happen at all. You begin to think to yourself that nobody really cares anymore."

Surgical Success and Ongoing Challenges

Following the procedure, Dr. Ashok Ramasamy, a trauma and orthopaedic consultant who performed the operation, confirmed that McGonagle suffers from arthritis in both legs. Dr. Ramasamy noted that many patients in his clinic are those who had been booked for surgery around 2020 or 2021, meaning they have waited nearly four to five years. "I see most of the patients who are being booked around 2020/21 time, so they are almost waiting for the last four or five years. Those are the patients I'm seeing in my clinic and then prioritising to get them to the surgery," he said.

According to Dr. Ramasamy, the recent initiative to clear waiting lists has led to a surge in surgical activity, with many individuals being treated after waits of up to eight years. However, he emphasized that capacity remains a complex issue dependent on theatre availability, patient admission rates, and support staff such as physiotherapists and ward personnel. "It's about what theatre capacity we have, how many patients we can admit, and then how much of a team are working with us," he said. He added that improvements in infrastructure and capacity are essential to sustaining these gains.

Source: BBC News Generated at: 2026-06-03 09:03:32 UTC