"Orthopaedic Interface = not good"

This service blocked me from getting the care and operation needed - There was a misreading of my mri scan resulting in more than 4 months of horrible pain whilst waiting to be ‘allowed’ to see a surgeon.

During this time I was instructed to stop taking the nerve blocking medication (for nerve pain) as this was blocking the ability to prove I had nerve irritation. Despite the spinal stenosis, the herniated disc and the osteophyte impingement on l5 as stated in the radiology report and as clearly visible on the mri.

The orthopaedic interface personnel made me feel like I was lying. Like I was wasting their time, faking my symptoms and that I was an irritating burden that would be a nuisance to the surgeons - as there would be nothing that they could do. Extremely reluctantly, they agreed to forward my details to the surgeon.

I was contacted within a week and upon finally getting to see an orthopaedic surgeon, they acknowledged that surgery was my only option- it had taken more than a year of crippling and unnecessary pain by this point.

I am making this review now, as other family members have also mentioned that the interface service is blocking their ability to get vital surgical assessments that do not ‘miss’ essential factors during diagnosis.

I am post surgery- and couldn’t fault the care and attention I’ve received from that part of the service.

It’s just such a shame that the interface service caused me so much additional pain and entirely unnecessary stress.