Almost 900 Patients In Malta Are Currently Awaiting Knee Or Hip Replacement Surgery
881 patients are currently on the waiting list to have knee or hip replacement surgeries in Malta.
The number was revealed in a parliamentary question asked by PN MP Ivan Bartolo to Health Minister Chris Fearne.
In his answer, Fearne said that while 137 patients are currently awaiting hip replacement surgery, 744 others are on the waiting list to have knee replacement surgery.
Fearne also added that operations are prioritised according to their urgency, rather than the date they had been referred for surgery.
The number has risen substantially in the span of half a year. In November 2021, MaltaToday reported that 610 patients had been waiting for more than a year and a half to get knee replacement surgery, while 127 patients had been waiting as long for hip replacement operations.
Details on the number of patients currently waiting to have their operation done were taken from the Patient Charter adopted by Mater Dei Hospital.
The very same charter states that in non-urgent cases, the “intervention must be initiated within 18 months for a condition that is unlikely to deteriorate quickly and that does not have the immediate potential to become an emergency”.
Knee replacement surgeries are common procedures today, often done to relieve severe pain that comes about through osteoarthritis, a condition that causes joints to become stiff and painful.
Left untreated, the condition may worsen to the point where patients have problems walking, climbing stairs and even getting in and out of chairs. Eventually, some will also have knee pain at rest.
Similarly, hip replacement surgery is usually recommended when the hip joint is so worn or damaged that your mobility is reduced and people are left in pain even while at rest.
Do you think more needs to be done to reduce the waiting list for these procedures?