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The Independent
4 days ago
- Health
- The Independent
‘NHS says I'm too big for surgery — now I'm spending my pension on weight-loss jabs'
With every step she takes, 72-year-old Sue Smith is in agony. The retired NHS clinician has been on the waiting list for a knee replacement for four years and walks, she says, as though her leg is broken. Despite her daily battle with pain, Ms Smith has been repeatedly denied surgery — because she is obese. But she has also been given no help by the NHS to lose weight, as waiting lists for such programmes soar. She is now forking out hundreds of pounds per month to pay for a weight-loss injection so she can have the operation she so desperately needs. Speaking to The Independent, Ms Smith — who has physically deteriorated so dramatically that she now uses a mobility scooter — said: 'I'm not lazy. I want my life back, but I'm stuck in a vicious cycle of trying to lose weight for this operation. I'm 72 years old now and am desperate for a knee replacement. 'What will they do — wait until I can't walk at all? Or I fall over and break my leg?' The Independent revealed last week that obese patients are being taken off waiting lists for life-changing hip and knee replacement surgery and being refused referrals as the NHS cuts costs. National guidelines make clear that weight should not be used to restrict patients' access to joint replacement surgery. But research has revealed more than a third of NHS areas are blocking patient access based on their body mass index (BMI). Ms Smith, who suffers from osteoarthritis, said she was told before the Covid outbreak that she needed an operation. At that time, she was fitter and slimmer and may have been eligible for the procedure, but was instead treated with steroids and physiotherapy. During the coronavirus lockdowns, the former NHS speech and language therapist struggled to maintain an active lifestyle. She was referred again for the operation in 2020 but was turned down — because her BMI was 43 — and told to lose weight. Her GP attempted to refer her for the operation three more times, but she was rejected on each occasion because of her size. Years later, with a BMI of 42, she remains above the threshold which Maidstone and Tonbridge Wells hospital set for her to be allowed an operation, she told The Independent. She said: 'The only way forward for me is to get down to this fantasy weight. I just want a knee replacement so I can exercise normally.' But Ms Smith is yet to receive any specialist weight management support from the NHS. She was finally referred for support services in January 2025 — more than four years after she was first told she could not have her operation due to weight — but was told the wait was at least 18 weeks. She is still waiting and has not heard when she will get an appointment. The Independent revealed that, in some areas, patients are waiting years for access to NHS weight loss management services. Desperate to get her operation, Ms Smith sought to get weight-loss jabs through the NHS. But, in another blow, she was told by her GP that they could not prescribe it. Under current rules, which are tightly controlling the use of such jabs, only specialist weight-loss management services can prescribe these drugs. Ms Smith has paid around £1,000 since February to have the weight loss jab Mounjaro privately, which she said has helped her to lose 18 pounds. She said: 'I get a pension from the NHS, it's about £200 a month, so really, I'm using that for this injection. I really want to have my knees done so I can move forward. I've had to buy a mobility scooter, which I don't use every day, but I have to sometimes. I don't want to be in it; I never wanted to have one. I only use it when I have to, which is once a week... It's awful, I just feel like a lesser being.' Ms Smith said that, following a recent X-ray, her GP told her knees are 'worn out.' Initially, Ms Smith said she only needed one knee replacement, however, the wait has led to her now needing surgery on both. A spokesperson for Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust said: 'We understand how upsetting it can be for anyone living with ongoing pain, and our teams are committed to ensuring patients receive the best possible care. While we can't comment on individual cases, referrals for surgery are assessed on a case-by-case basis, and a range of clinical factors are reviewed. 'These include, but are not limited to BMI, and enable our clinicians to ensure the surgery is safe and appropriate.'
CBC
02-06-2025
- Health
- CBC
Miramichiers say Centennial Bridge sidewalk needs to stay
Social Sharing Since the Centennial Bridge opened in 1967, Miramichiers have been able to walk, bike or roll across it, but after it gets a long-planned new deck, this will no longer be an option.. Sidewalks running along both sides of the bridge will be removed during the upgrade that starts next summer, and they won't be replaced. "When I found out that they were planning to take the sidewalks out, that's not right," said Daniel McGraw, who crosses the bridge about three times a week on his mobility scooter. The bridge is the fastest way of getting from Miramichi east, formerly Chatham, to downtown Miramichi, formerly Douglastown. Plans to make it inaccessible to people on foot or in chairs provoked a protest at the kilometre-long bridge on Sunday. The only other way for people in the area to cross the Miramichi River is to take a 20-kilometre detour and use the bridge in Newcastle. "I've actually attempted to drive from where I live through to Douglastown, through Newcastle, and I made it halfway before [my chair] died," McGraw said. When McGraw heard about the rally being organized to protest removal of the sidewalks, he and his scooter were at the front of the group. Miramichiers protest removal of sidewalk on Centennial Bridge 7 hours ago Duration 1:51 Not in the budget The overhaul of Centennial Bridge has been a long time coming. It was first announced in 2015 by the Liberal government of Brian Gallant, with a nine-year timeline, but the project quickly faced delays. The next government, under Progressive Conservative Blaine Higgs, cancelled contracts, and the timeline was set back further by rising costs. A sidewalk was taken out of the plans but eventually put back in. "Myself, the other MLAs, folks from the city council had met with the department and the then minister was minister Green," said Miramichi East Conservative MLA Michelle Conroy. "And we fought to have the sidewalk put in because of the same reason: it's essential." Now, with a new Liberal government, the project is on track to be finished in 2027, for a total cost of $195 million. But in question period last week, Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Chuck Chiasson said a sidewalk was never a part of the plan, even under the former PC government. "The sidewalk was not part of the scope of the project. Your government had six years to do so to put it into the scope of the project," Chiasson said when asked by the Opposition. "It was never put in. It was never budgeted for." Conroy is determined to keep pushing for the sidewalk alongside other Miramichiers. "It's essential for people. "A lot of people use that bridge, and we need to be able to get across on foot." Dangerous and potentially deadly About 50 people gathered to walk in the rain to the midpoint of the bridge for the protest. Cars and transport trucks zoomed by — the posted speed limit is 80 kilometres an hour — splashing water onto the marchers, who weren't deterred from chanting "Save our sidewalk." Sadie Rose Trudelle started organizing the march about a month ago, and started a Facebook group in support of a sidewalk on the bridge, which she said has about 400 members. "There's all kinds of reasons that people might not be able to drive a car or use the public transit or whatever, and I don't think we can count those people out," Trudelle said. Trudelle said her son walks across the bridge every day at 4:30 a.m. to get to work, and she'd worry for his safety if there wasn't a sidewalk. "They keep telling us it's finances," Trudelle said. "But honestly, the first person that gets hurt on that bridge, it's going to cost a heck of a lot more." Others at the rally voiced similar concerns. "I don't think I'd want to walk on it unless there was a sidewalk or some sort of barrier," said resident Laurence Lynch. "It was built with a sidewalk. So I don't know why they don't fix the bridge and still have a sidewalk." "It's kind of treacherous now and with different weather conditions that we get blowing winds, rain," said Miramichi resident and business owner Karen Daley. "Taking the sidewalk out. It's just a moment of time before something fatal, and an accident does happen." The right kind of sidewalk The government has said the projected cost of a sidewalk is about $50 million, since it would have to include on-ramps and separation from vehicle traffic. But residents said they don't need that, they just want to be able to cross safely. "I understand the bridge needs to be maintained and fixed up, but that doesn't mean that we have to lose a sidewalk," said McGraw. Miramichi Mayor Adam Lordon told CBC's Maritime Noon that taking away the sidewalk would be a detriment to the promise of increasing active transportation along the river. "When it was announced to the community, a sidewalk was a part of the project at the beginning," he said. "And so I don't think it's unreasonable for the community to expect that a sidewalk will remain as it always has been, and as we were told it would be up until recently." At the legislature, Chiasson said his department is more than willing to "engage the community on transportation solutions," and he hopes to hold a public meeting in the community soon. But Trudelle and other residents say they aren't giving up on the sidewalk, and are gathering signatures in an online petition that they hope to present to the government before it's too late. "We're not going away," Trudelle said. "We're not going to be quiet."
