Aviemore grandmother left in crippling pain after urgent hip operation cancelled for third time
An Aviemore grandmother of five has been left feeling devastated and still in agony after her first of two hip replacements operations was cancelled for a third time.
The family of 80-year-old wheelchair bound Christine Smith, of Craig-na-Gower Avenue, has said she is in constant crippling pain but has no new date for the surgery to be carried out.
Her daughter Jackie Convery told the Strathy: “When we went to Raigmore Hospital on March 16 the consultant was quite horrified after taking x-rays by the state of both my mum’s hips and seeing how much they had deteriorated.
“He said that she needed to be in within weeks. Her left hip was causing her more pain but she chose her right for the first op as she could see from the x-ray that there was so much damage.”
But six months later and the pensioner is still waiting.
The family said they have been told the hospital is unable to even provide a date for her procedure as there is only one operating theatre available for hip replacement surgery.
Mrs Convery said: “It is the fact that the operation has now been cancelled three times that really, really concerns us without any idea when the operation will now take place.”
Mrs Smith, who lost her husband, Ronald, on Christmas Eve, last year, after a long illness, would be housebound if it was not for her loved ones.
Mrs Convery explained: “She can only go out if family take her out and she is constantly on large amounts of medication including tramadol (used for short-term relief of severe pain).
“She is not one to go around telling people she is in so much pain – but we know. We can just see it and every time we ask her if she is feeling any better she says: ‘No, no I’m not’.
“She is really struggling to even get out of her chair. We have seen a massive deterioration in her health and also as a result in her mental well-being.
“Mum is someone who is matter of fact about things and understands there are emergencies at Raigmore Hospital but she has been waiting patiently and just wants to know why she has not been given another date.
“She was crying after she got the recent phone call to inform her the op had been cancelled for a third time – and she is not one for tears.
“Mum is very stoic and it is very upsetting to see. It is very hard for her.”
Mrs Convery added: “She lost my dad at Christmas time and my youngest sister (Gillian Haggerty) died two years ago so mum has dealt with loads of things and she thinks, as we all do, that she deserves the comfort, dignity and support that she should be getting at this time in her life.”
Badenoch MSP Kate Forbes was contacted by the family last week. The politician said: “I have written to the chief executive of NHS Highland in the hope that Mrs Smith can receive her promised surgery as soon as practically possible.
“Whilst I don’t doubt the pressures within NHS Highland, it would appear that something has clearly gone wrong here with the operation being postponed three times. That should not happen to anyone.
“Mrs Smith is in crippling pain, her condition continues to deteriorate, and I hope the health board will look at this matter urgently.”
NHS Highland said it was unable to comment on individual cases.
However, a spokesman said: “NHS Highland would like to offer their sincere apologies to any patient who has an operation cancelled due to system pressures or any other reason.
“These decisions are not taken lightly, and we know it is extremely disappointing to patients who have been waiting for their operations.”
A recently opened national operating facility at the Inverness UHI campus is intended to reduce waiting times in the region
But the spokesman said: “The National Treatment Centre Highland offers our orthopaedic service additional theatre capacity to carry out routine hip and knee replacement, foot and ankle and hand surgery.
“More complex cases will continue to be carried out on the Raigmore site.
“NHS Highland is committed to improving waiting times for all patients who are awaiting a surgical procedure.”