{"id":498925,"date":"2025-10-14T13:48:19","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T13:48:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/498925\/"},"modified":"2025-10-14T13:48:19","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T13:48:19","slug":"i-faced-a-three-year-nhs-wait-for-a-hip-op","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/498925\/","title":{"rendered":"I faced a three-year NHS wait for a hip op"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\t\t\t\t\tIt cost Stephen Pitcher \u00a39,000 to beat the NHS waiting list and be back home in South Wales having had successful hip surgery within three weeks of booking it\t\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n

A pensioner who was told he faced a three-year wait<\/a> for hip replacement surgery on the NHS has said it was a \u201cno-brainer\u201d to travel to Lithuania and pay thousands of pounds for the operation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Stephen Pitcher, 70, from the village of Ystalyfera in South Wales, travelled to the Baltic state in August after experiencing an \u201cenormous amount of pain\u201d. In total the trip cost him \u00a39,000 \u2013 and his surgery was completed within three weeks of booking.<\/p>\n

The Government has made bringing down waiting times for elective care its key target for the NHS, but latest figures for Wales show nearly one in four people are still on a treatment list \u2013 with the average waiting time at 21.1 weeks in Wales, compared with 13.1 weeks in England.<\/p>\n

New FeatureIn ShortQuick Stories. Same trusted journalism.<\/p>\n

The waiting list for routine hospital treatment on the NHS in England grew for the third month in a row<\/a> in July, with an estimated 7.41 million treatments waiting to be carried out.<\/p>\n

Mr Pitcher, a retired geography teacher, said that during holiday in Canada in July he was \u201climping around and couldn\u2019t go much more than 200 metres \u2013 and certainly couldn\u2019t walk at all without pain\u201d.<\/p>\n

He had previously been told he would at some point require replacement surgery on both hips by NHS doctors and that the wait would be around three years. But even before he would be put on the waiting list<\/a>, he was informed he would need to undergo physiotherapy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat in itself might take six months, just to get a physiotherapy appointment<\/a>,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mr Pitcher was able to afford private healthcare<\/a> thanks to money he inherited from his late father and made enquiries with an independent healthcare provider in Swansea.<\/p>\n

\u201c[The consultant] basically said that they could fit me in for a replacement in about five to six months\u2019 time\u2026 and the price would be a minimum of about \u00a316,000 to \u00a318,000,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

But after recalling an acquaintance had travelled to Lithuania for hip replacement surgery, Mr Pitcher searched online and discovered Nordorthopaedic Clinic.<\/p>\n

The total cost of the procedure, plus a two-night stay at the clinic, a chauffeur and nine days of physiotherapy came to \u00a37,500. Mr Pitcher paid around \u00a31,000 for flights and additional accommodation, bringing the grand total to under \u00a39,000.<\/p>\n

The costs were significantly lower than what he had been told he would have to pay in Wales, and the waiting time for the surgery was also reduced.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had less than three weeks between contacting them and getting my operation,\u201d Mr Pitcher said.<\/p>\n

\"StephenStephen Pitcher travelled to Lithuania for hip replacement surgery <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not denying for one moment that I\u2019m extremely lucky to have had this money available and most people, well a lot of people, wouldn\u2019t be able to. <\/p>\n

\u201cI mean the cost was the cost of a secondhand car, but it was a no brainer in terms of essentially giving me three years of extra life rather than sitting around on a waiting list.\u201d<\/p>\n

If he had not opted to travel overseas for treatment, Mr Pitcher said the long wait for surgery on the NHS would likely had have had a significant impact on not just his physical health but his mental health too.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s conjecture, but I think I would have got very, very seriously depressed. I\u2019m someone who likes to move around. I like to walk the hills of South Wales. I like to do active DIY and renovation of housing and things like that, so my life would have been a painful complete on hold for three years, was my expectation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"StephenMr Pitcher hopes to enjoy even more outdoor activities after his second hip replacement surgery <\/p>\n

Mr Pitcher, who also enjoys outdoor activities such as white water rafting and kayaking, is looking forward to returning to these pursuits once his right hip is treated. He plans to return to Lithuania for the second surgery within the next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cQuite apart from the NHS element is why isn\u2019t our private system capable of offering the same?\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Lithuania is one of the top 10 destinations for Britons travelling for health treatment, with 16,000 visits to the country for medical care last year, Office for National Statistics figures show. <\/p>\n

Health experts have warned about the risks of travelling overseas for medical treatment<\/a>. However, the focus of such alerts tends to be cheap cosmetic surgeries carried out by providers with poor standards, which have led to the deaths of dozens of Britons.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Dr Sarunas Tarasevicius, who performed Mr Pitcher\u2019s surgery, said: \u201cThe risk of complications is a general issue of surgical interventions worldwide, regardless of whether the surgeries are performed in the UK, Lithuania, or any other country in the world, in private clinics or public hospitals.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, he said the rate of postoperative complications after joint replacement surgeries at the clinic is \u201cvery low\u201d and in the event they occur it is typically during the first few days after the surgery, meaning patients are still under observation in Lithuania and would receive treatment at no extra cost.<\/p>\n

The Nordorthopaedic Clinic said it sees a 15-20 per cent increase in orthopaedic patients from the UK every year, a trend it expects to continue.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe main reasons are the long waiting times for surgery in the UK and the fact that people are looking for a comprehensive, high-quality solution that includes not only the surgery itself, but also a smooth process and rehabilitation afterwards,\u201d Mr Tarasevicius said.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the Welsh Government said: \u201cIf people are considering going outside of the regulated NHS system, including going abroad, for their health service it\u2019s important they research it properly to ensure the clinical service offered and the follow-up care and costs expected are known and are clinically accredited with a recognised body. This is particularly pertinent if the decision has not been specifically supported by a clinical professional.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would encourage people to check they are dealing with someone reputable, ask to see their qualifications, ask about complications, and side effects and, if possible, speak to other people who have been treated at the same clinic or hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It cost Stephen Pitcher \u00a39,000 to beat the NHS waiting list and be back home in South Wales…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":498926,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4316],"tags":[105,4348,1114,41667,66621,2079,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-498925","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-healthcare","10":"tag-lithuania","11":"tag-nhs-waiting-times","12":"tag-nhs-wales","13":"tag-surgery","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115372838448200757","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=498925"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498925\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/498926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=498925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=498925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=498925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}