hi all just wondering about the difference in countries of waiting times to get tkr ,i live in south of ireland and here if you dont have private health insurance the waiting time to get tkr is over 5yrs which is crazy to say the least so in my case my husband needed hip replacement and i needed two knees ,we had to make sure we had private insurance its cost us a fortune this year it was over 3,000 euro for insurance and we had to have it and god knows how much it will cost next year as we have to keep paying it because my husband needs to get his knee done in the next 12 months .is the waiting times better in your country ?
Hi Linda - thankfully I have private healthcare through my employer I live in Essex but work in London. My waiting time was only 3 months but I'm not sure what the waiting time is on the NHS (national health service). some of the others on this forum maybe able to tell you more.
Hi Linda I live in Lincolnshire and went to see my GP in December 2014 he referred me NHS to a private hospital and I had TKR 11th March which was my choice I could have had it done a month earlier but it was not a good time for me. So I think I had a really good timescale. In Lincolnshire we seem to have a very good hospital service. Not sure what it is like in the rest of the UK but I do have a friend that lives in Hertfordshire and he only had to wait 3 months.
hi linda the procedure in my hospital in west yorks is once your GP has referred you the consultant has to see you within 6 weeks and your treatment has to start within 18 weeks or you breach and the hosp get fined!!!! the first time I saw the cons in june my op was dec but when I went for my pre op I had a blister on that ankle so I started my 18 week wait again but had the op 5.3.15.
I am in N Ireland, ours is maybe a little different; we are referred to ICATS were an assessment takes place - they do all they can to postpone any surgery, especially if you are under 65. They insist that you take pain meds every day, offer you steroid injections, exrrcise and lose weight etc. if you follow the regime (after about 1 year in my case) then you will hopefully be offered the op. You are then on the list and you should have your op within about six months.
Hi Linda. I'm in Canada and I waited 18 months. If you have to have a second knee done, which I do, they will do it within four months if you wish but I am not ready to go there. I'm eleven weeks and can't imagine going through this again anytime soon. Every Canadian citizen has healthcare. You can get a joint replacement sooner but I chose to wait for a particular surgeon who is considered one of the best in the field.
Im only 36 and had to wait until my knee had almost completely crumbled away. The NHS didn't want to touch me because I was too young. Problem I have now though is I was left too long (waited 5 years) that it's so complicated now. I wasn't able to be operated on in certain hospitals (needed access to certain equipment), couldn't operate at a weekend and surgery took 4 hours. It took a year from when I was told surgery definitely had to happen for it to go ahead. I had two surgeries in Feb and I'm now waiting for third at end of July.
Annoying part is I have private health care but it doesn't cover my knee as it was a pre-existing condition. I live in Cheshire but had my surgery at a specialist unit in Liverpool.
I'm in the States and I only had to wait 3 weeks before my surgery.
I'm in the US and 30 to 60 days is normal unless the patient opts for a longer wait. 5 years of being in pain and walking impaired just is unimanageable.
No waiting time if you have private insurance in Australia. We pay $1500 per year and have done for the past 40 years. I think if you don't have private cover here, it is a wait of about 8 months. 5 years seems awful.
I live in Australia as well & had to wait 12 mths to get an appt. With the surgeon. Then you go on the waiting list which is 12 mths. I ended up borrowing the money & had both done at once. I worked out that what I saved over the years of not paying for insurance, was probably equal to the cost of the surgery etc.
I'm in Australia..I was referred by a private dr... but I only went private for to the Orthapaedic surgeon for diagnoses, he then sent me to the local hospital, I didn't have a knee replacement only day surgery for scraping my the torn cartledge etc...it was bone on bone..OA....and I only waited 3 weeks...I think it depends on what your original doctor writes on your referral, wether the hospital puts you on top of the list or down further.(depends on the urgency) as people couldn't believe just how quickly I got mine done.....there is a couple of years on the waiting list here, depends on what state you live in too..some are longer, however, as I've said, It really does depend on, where you are on the waiting list..as sometimes you may get near the top and someone more needy as their doctor sees it goes on the top.. hence, putting you down lower..actually when I went back for my scheduled checkup the doctor said how come you got an MRI, then he said: O' right you went to see a private doctor first..so I just guessed that was why I had it done straight away...maybe not..maybe it was worse than I thought..do hope all goes very well for you Linda..be blessed..have a lovely day:-) xx
I, too live in Lincolnshire and had a similar experience. After being referred by my GP to a consultant at a private hospital, as an nhs patient, I saw him within 2months in Dec. 14. I was told I needed an arthroscopy to get a better idea of whether I needed a half or total knee replacement. This was carried out in Feb.15. At a further consultation I was told I needed a total knee replacement. i only waited 8 wks and had my surgery on 13th may 15. 5 weeks ago. I feel I was extremely lucky to be done so quickly and at a private hospital as an nhs patient.
Linda, I am from the USA, but living in India. When I met with my doctor, he would have done the surgery that week. Absolutely no waiting here. I was able to schedule it when I had family here to help me through the recovery. I initially paid out of pocket; a bilateral cost about the equivalent of 6,000 euro. Friends in Las Vegas (USA) had to wait a number of months just to see the surgeon and then another couple of months waiting for the surgery. But nothing like a 5 year wait.
Forgot to ask. Where about in Lincolnshire are you? I live just north of Lincoln.
That m y be the case in Vegas but certainly not where I'm from, the KC metro area. I now go to the university medical center because o f the rare tumor that originally caused my problem. I had an appointment with the ortho oncologist 1 st and saw her in less than 2 weeks. She referred me to the teaching assoc professor ortho and I saw him in a little over 2 weeks. I had to have several tests and the final decision that I would need a revision was made and I was offered surgery in 3 weeks. Due to the holidays I opted to wait until after the 1st of the year as did many i there so it was the 3rd week Of the year. I have referred 3 people to my surgeon and no one has had to wait more than 6 weeks. 2 had surgery within 45 days. The local ortho group of 8 seems to be running less than 6 weeks from 1st appt to surgery. 4 of that group specilize in knee/hip. 2 are shoulder, hand & arm. I guess it just depends on the demographics of the area. A late friend of mine sintered in Palm desert CA and they had more high calibre eye, ortho and other elderly (wealthy elderly) problems than any place in the country during the winter months. What a lot of people don't know, unless you have been hospitalized within the last 4 months, you can take your records and walk into a mayo clinic and get immediate attention. We saw any number of mid eastern dignitaries up there and their or i hate jets were sitting at the airport.
I live in Long Sutton which is 15 miles from Kings Lynn and 15 Miles from Spalding so just inside Lincilconshire
I live in Wales. Come and live here?!!
I had TKR 3 years ago. I waited less than a year from first seeing GP being referred to consultant and having the operation.
I have to say I had an excellent consultant and although I still have one or two problems with my knee the operation itself has been a total success story.
Sarah
a huge thanks to ye all for the replies yes its just what i thought im living in the wrong country our health system is nothing short of disgracefull . to test the system here last october my husband put himself on the list to see a consultant (now we do have private) he has not heard a word back from going through the national health and i dont expect to hear anything anytime soon , the lists here are endless and i feel for people not able to afford private .we do struggle to pay private but it has to be paid it now seems in this country that you have to pay health insurance before you eat ,
Where did you have your operation done? Mine was in Lincoln.