Falklands pair in 8,000 mile trip to undergo crucial hip ops
Two patients travelled more than 8,000 miles to be treated by an expert surgeon in Coombe Down.
Mandy Ford and Clive Wilkinson, two farmers from the Falkland Islands were treated by specialist hip surgeon Mr Harvey Sandhu at the Bath Clinic, part of Circle Health Group.
“The care I received was brilliant at every point,” said Mandy. “I felt totally relaxed and confident that the surgery could be done.
“I can’t wait to get back home and start dancing,.
“I’ve been given my life back and I can’t thank Mr Sandhu enough”.
Both patients travelled by military aircraft to the UK in order to have the life-changing surgery that was inaccessible to them at home.
Each had osteoarthritis, a degenerative joint disease that results in the breakdown of joint cartilage and underlying bone.
Eventually, if left untreated the wear and tear on the ball and socket joint becomes so bad that walking becomes close to impossible without the support of crutches.
Ms Ford and Mr Wilkinson had experienced significant delays waiting for treatment. Both had previously travelled to a hospital in Wigan to undergo the surgery. However, at the last minute the surgery was cancelled, forcing an 8,064-mile journey back to Port Stanley with the operations they needed still out of sight.
Finally in Bath, they have both had full hip replacements which involved the removal of the worn, diseased joint and its replacement with an artificial joint. All the treatment was paid for by the NHS.
The surgery took an hour and a half and involved specialist instruments and a pioneering implant developed by a team from Harvard in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Mr Sandhu chose this approach as the specialist implant is extremely hard wearing with a long life span and would suit Ms Ford and Mr Wilkinson particularly well.
“This type of surgery enables an accelerated recovery,” said Mr Sandhu, “which benefits Mandy and Clive returning to a full and active working and social life when they return to the Falkland Islands in a few weeks.”
Mr Sandhu performs a wide variety of hip procedures tailored to the individual needs of his patients, from hipconserving surgery to high demand ceramic-on-ceramic hip replacements.
He has also introduced ‘trabecular metal technology’ to Bath, enabling operations which were not previously possible to be performed.
When asked what operating on Ms Ford and Mr Wilkinson meant to him, Mr Sandhu said: “It is a real privilege to help these two patients, as it is for every patient who is in extreme pain and in Clive’s case on crutches.
“It was a truly rewarding experience to help both of them and a great opportunity to hear about life and access to healthcare in the Falklands.”