PUBLIC patients waited over five months for “urgent” knee-replacement surgery, new figures have revealed.
Data published by the Health Department showed that the median wait for urgent knee replacements was 22 weeks during the 12 months to 31 July – meaning half of patients waited longer.
Those classed as needing surgery “soon” faced a median wait of 53 weeks, while “routine” patients waited 87.5 weeks or around 20 months.
This compared with median waits of nine weeks for urgent private patients, seven weeks for those in the “soon” category and 25 weeks for routine cases.
As of 6 August, 267 public patients were waiting for either a total or partial knee replacement. This included 206 routine cases, 54 categorised as “soon” and seven urgent patients.
A further six private patients were waiting, all of whom were in the “soon” category.
Health said waiting lists were prioritised according to clinical need and chronological order. Demand, inpatient bed capacity and staff availability could also affect waiting times.
It added that the trauma and orthopaedics department now had a full complement of five consultants following the recruitment of a lower-limb specialist.
Patients whose symptoms deteriorate while waiting are advised to contact their GP for reassessment.
