"A year after the initial injury and still in the same situation"

In April 2017 i dislocated my right knee patella (knee cap) playing football, went to Good Hope for treatment, A&E the staff there were very good. The problems started when i had to have follow up appointments with trauma and Orthopaedics department.

(Bit of a back story, i have had knee problems most my adult life, i have trochlear dysplasia in both knees, i had surgery at 18, medial plication and lateral release on my left knee)

It took nearly 6months after the initial injury to get put forward for surgery (arthroscopy with chondroplasty) , The PHYSIO (not consultant) i saw at my appointments seemed really reluctant to put me forward for surgery which i borderline had to beg for, as i was told that the surgery times were 2 months behind the normal 18weeks waiting time. It then took a further 5months until i had surgery on my knee, i only managed to get seen that early because i got a cancellation.

Unfortunately the surgery was not a success and i was/am still in a lot of pain, so i had a follow up appointment in March 2018 to which they reviewed the arthroscopy images and notes from the surgery and found that i have 10mm of cartilage missing from the back of my knee cap. I wanted to know how we proceed i.e. if more surgery was required, to which i was told basically go away and we'll review again in 2months and then if its still bad we will put you forward for surgery again.

i don't quite know what they expected to happen in the 2 months and why they would not recommend me for surgery there and then as it would of mean being another 2 months down the line and then having to wait at least another 5months for surgery.

So here i am a year after the initial injury and still in the same situation, i have not been able to do any exercise for the past year, my knee is still swollen, i am still in more or less constant pain, it is affecting my work and social life and all i am told from GHH is go away and come back in 2 months!! like the magic knee fairy is going to come along and sort it all out. How can it take over a year and to still be in the same situation!

To sum my treatment from GHH up would be the phrase 'come back in a couple of months and see how you are' instead of dealing with the problem they just seem push it further and further down the line. I was treated as more of an inconvenience rather than a patient

In the end i got so frustrated with GHH and the service/treatment i was given i went back to my GP and got referred to another hospital (i wish i had done it sooner), which is now progressing a lot better and quicker than the service at GHH. It feels like they actually care about trying to help you