"Long waiting time for operation"

A few months into lockdown I experienced severe knee pain. The GP referred me to the practice physio and was given some exercises to do over the phone. A year on and the pain was still really bad. Eventually, after asking for an MRI twice, it was third time lucky when a kind GP took an interest. The MRI showed a torn meniscus and I was referred to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Having heard nothing  from them after a month, I rang to ask when I would see the consultant. I was told it was likely to be a year until I got an appointment and, if surgery was required, I would need to wait another 18 months minimum. I asked if this was because of covid and was told that it had added about a month onto the wait but that it had been really poor before the pandemic.

At this point it had become so painful that I was signed off work and struggling to walk. Therefore, there was no choice other than to pay for a private operation. I had the private operation in May 2021. In February 2022 I received a call from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital offering a phone appointment with the consultant in May 2022. What I took from this is that the health service here in Scotland appears totally broken and it is unclear why tax payers are being asked to fund it, if they then have to use their life savings for private health care just to be able to walk properly and work.

Three GPs and one physiotherapist refused to refer me for an MRI as I was told these are only for people having operations. This is clearly nonsense; how do you know if you need an operation without a diagnosis? I'm grateful for the one supportive GP who did organise the MRI as this helped to move on the private operation quickly and be able to return to work. There seems to be a lack of care in the NHS that is startlingly disturbing and I don't see anyone in the devolved Scottish government acknowledging this, taking responsibility or setting out a plan to fix it.