Surgeon slams "cruel" waiting lists

Some patients do not make it to the operating theatre

A senior surgeon at a Welsh hospital has complained that lengthy waiting lists are causing "cruel, inhumane and intolerable" pain for patients.

Witez Mintowt-Czyz wrote to Health Minister Jane Hutt and other Welsh politicians to say pressure on beds is routinely forcing a cancellation of surgery.

The whole of the health service is in such a poor state

Witez Mintowt-Czyz

He responded after a patient at the Royal Gwent Hospital had to wait 32 months for a knee operation and had the surgery cancelled - once, on her way to the operating theatre.

The attack came as assembly figures revealed the number of people waiting for an outpatient appointment in Wales jumped by 3.3% in June - the third successive monthly increase.

The figures grew by 6,300 to 195,000 - almost double the amount waiting when Labour took office in 1997 - while the number of inpatients awaiting treatment remained relatively static with a monthly increase of 100 patients

Rare outburst

In an outburst rare from surgeons, Mr Mintowt-Czyz said the NHS needed a funding increase of 50% if patient care is to improve.

Lack of treatment was leaving elderly patients to die in pain, he said.

It co He said he despaired that orthopaedic patients throughout Wales are not getting the care they deserve.

"The problem is a lack of everything," he told the BBC's Good Morning Wales.

"There are no surgeons, insufficient staff in training, there aren't the facilities for them to work in, there aren't the operating theatres, there aren't beds, there aren't enough anaesthetists.

The Royal Gwent has a beds shortfall

"The whole of the health service is in such a poor state"

In June, Ms Hutt announced she had targeted £12m to eliminate waiting lists of over 18 months by next July.

She said: "It has to be about ensuring hospitals do the job they are equipped and staff to do

"We have to unravel the unacceptable problems of people who could be tranferred out of hosptial - do we need more beds in addition to that?

But Mr Mintowt-Czyz said that was not enough.

"It's very welcome," he said. But it's nowhere near the scale needed to match the shortfall.

"My waiting list is about three years to be seen in the outpatients, then another three years to get an operation.

"Elderly patients, who have ill hips and knees cannot live a normal life and sometimes go to their graves because it hasn't been sorted out."

The surgeon said private sector funding must play a part in financing the health service.

Extra beds

The surgeon, who is also privately employed at St Joseph's Hospital, said he needed an extra 80 beds at Royal Gwent.

Surgeons have sometimes been reprimanded when speaking out against conditions in the health service, but Mr Mintowt-Czyz said he had the support of management.

He said the hospital needed 19 orthopaedic surgeons but had just nine.

Half of the money announced by Health Minister Ms Hutt is to come from health authorities, another £5m from within the overall health budget and £1m from the Innovations in Care programme.