Barry
At the time of the interview, Barry was expecting that he would eventually see a specialist to arrange a joint replacement of his right knee. His left knee has also been troublesome in the past. Barry has a history of heart problems and sleep apnoea. Barry’s GP said this could mean that he might be declined knee replacement surgery on the NHS, and Barry’s preference was to have the operation done privately using his medical insurance. Since the time of his interview, however, Barry has had a successful full replacement of his right knee on the NHS.
Barry is married, and has two children and three grandchildren from his first marriage and four step-grandchildren from his second marriage. He is a retired police officer. His ethnicity is White British.
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Barry has struggled with arthritis in his knees, as well as several other health concerns. After experiencing a dangerously high heart rate, Barry had a heart ablation and a LINQ heart rate monitor installed in 2014. He also has sleep apnoea which is well controlled with a CPAP machine, an underactive thyroid, two hernias, and back pain. About 10 years ago, Barry had “extreme pain” in his left knee; an X-ray showed “a bit of arthritis, normal wear and tear” but the problem eventually “sorted itself out and that was the end of the matter”. More recently, he began to experience problems with his right knee in terms of pain and sometimes giving way. This, coupled with shielding during the Covid-19 pandemic, meant that he was unable to exercise as much as normal. He felt stuck in a “vicious circle” because of knee pain, being unable to exercise, gaining weight, and losing muscle.
Barry saw his GP about his right knee who told him that he would need to try steroid injections twice before he could be referred on to a joint replacement specialist on the NHS. There was a mix-up with booking this treatment in but eventually, several months later, Barry had his first steroid injection and found it helped. However, this improvement only lasted for 3-4 weeks.
A couple of days after having his second steroid injection, Barry had a fall in which he banged his knee and hit his head. A few days later, he and his wife knew he was not well and 111 arranged for him to be seen at a hospital. He had IV antibiotics, a CT scan of his head, and an X-ray of his chest. The doctor also requested an X-ray of his knee at the same time, and the report to his GP said he should have an urgent referral for a knee replacement.
When Barry next saw his GP, he was told to “prepare to be rejected” for knee replacement surgery on the NHS based on him having sleep apnoea, being fitted with a heart monitor, and being overweight. Barry suggested he could make use of his medical insurance to have the operation done privately when he felt he needed it. After checking the insurance coverage, Barry told his GP he didn’t need an NHS referral – but it was put through anyway.
At the time of the interview, Barry felt he was managing okay with paracetamol and Voltarol gel apart from “the odd ache and the odd giving way when I’m not paying attention to how I walk or how I turn”. Through a weight reduction specialist, Barry was put in touch with a physiotherapist and found that acupuncture, alongside physiotherapy, also “took the edge off”. He felt that the NHS referral was unnecessary, as he was “chugging along quite nicely”, but planned to “let it run” and see how long it might take to get the surgery on the NHS. He expected though that he would eventually have the operation privately.
Since the time of his interview, however, Barry was called to see an NHS consultant who, having considered his medical history, offered a total knee replacement to occur within two months. At that time, Barry was experiencing constant pain in both knees and his back. Unfortunately, whilst waiting for his pre-operative assessment, Barry had another problem with his heart which resulted in a privately funded ablation. In light of this procedure, his knee operation was delayed.
After being seen again by the consultant, Barry’s knee surgery was rescheduled. Barry has since had a total joint replacement of his right knee which he feels went well. He has a follow-up appointment scheduled with the consultant, which he hopes will confirm that his recovery is going well. Barry “cannot speak too highly” of the service provided by the NHS with regards to his knee replacement. He feels, however, that this high standard of NHS care did not translate to his heart problems. To other people with knee problems needing surgery, Barry’s advice is to not “go on suffering” and instead to “get yourself in [the NHS referral system] as soon as possible” or to use private medical insurance if they have it.
