Ex-Wales star’s blast at NHS over care ‘failings’
AFORMER Wales rugby international who has multiple sclerosis (MS) has hit out at what he claims are NHS failings in his care.
When Paul Knight finally received the long-awaited honour of a senior Welsh cap, it was the pinnacle of a bruising rugby career.
But just two years later, in 1995, the ex-Pontypridd player retired from the sport and received his devastating diagnosis.
Twenty-two years on, the 57-yearold is wheelchair-bound and suffers constant agony due to a bedsore caused by, he claims, health service failings.
Mr Knight, who played five times for Wales between 1990-91, is suffering from a worsening pressure ulcer. He believes the pressure sore (or bedsore) could have been prevented if he had received treatment when it was first discovered by carers.
He relies on a wheelchair due to his MS and said the ulcer has reached “grade three”, meaning an open sore that can lead to infections and pose a “serious health risk”.
To assist with his MS, nurses and carers from the Cwm Taf University Health Board visit his adapted home in Treorchy and his adapted bungalow in Ystrad, where he moved to recently.
The married father-of-one said sitting in his wheelchair is now a “major problem” because of the anguish of coping with a pressure ulcer.
He said early detection and treatment can make all the difference. Stage three bedsores only occur when stage one and stage two bedsores do not receive effective or adequate medical care.
“It is a pressure sore and of course while sitting in my wheelchair all the pressure is on my backside,” he explained. “For many years I have faced the challenges of multiple sclerosis and I am dealing with that, but this progressive pressure ulcer could have been prevented and I feel a sense of anger and disappointment about that.”
As a 20-year-old playing for Aberavon in 1980, Mr Knight was drafted into the Welsh squad, and played for West Wales against the touring Australians in 1982. In 1987, he joined Pontypridd and established himself as the cornerstone of an effective forward unit, and in 1990 the longawaited honour of a senior Welsh cap came his way.
He played against Namibia twice on tour, the Barbarians, England and Scotland, before also representing the Barbarians against Argentina.
In 1992 he left Pontypridd to join Treorchy, when illness forced him to end his playing career.
It was over a year ago that a carer discovered that a red patch on his skin was the start of a pressure ulcer.
He said: “The nurses told me that they could see a scratch but that was it.”
He said over the coming months nurses treated the wound with plasters. “As time went, I could sense the ulcer getting worse because of the constant pain and discomfort I was feeling while sitting in my wheelchair,” he added.
Paul’s wife Jennifer said: “The pressure ulcer should never have got to this stage.
“The nurses who have cared for him since his recent move to Ystrad have been excellent and I cannot speak too highly of them.”
Last month, Paul was given an air mattress by the nurses to try to ease his condition.
“The air mattress is a help but I should have been given one a lot sooner,” he said. “I don’t how long it will take for the pressure ulcer to heal. It may take months, if at all.
“My MS is an illness that wasn’t preventable, but this pressure ulcer was.”
Cwm Taf University Health Board has said it does not comment on individual cases.