A MAN who ‘walked into hospital, and came out in a wheelchair’ following a hip replacement has spoken of his three years of agony which have seen him unable to leave the house and dealing with severe anxiety.
Tom Caine, 75, went into Barnsley Hospital for a right hip replacement in August 2016.
The operation was the starting point of a series of incidents that would see his physical and mental health deteriorate dramatically.
Following the operation, Tom would wake up in intense pain with fluid running down his leg - a sign of infection - and after a long wait a second operation to replace the artificial hip was finally scheduled 18 months later.
“It has broken me down,” said Tom, of Cliffe Road, Brampton.
“It’s shortly coming up to three years I’ve been in a wheelchair and it’s been three years of nothing but pain.
“I’m in a right state, I can’t sleep, I can’t get out of the house, for the past 12 months I’ve suffered with anxiety.
“I’ve never had any trouble with anxiety before, but now I have nights where I can’t sit, lay, watch television or read. I get in my wheelchair and just go from room to room.”
After a hip replacement, NHS guidelines state patients should be encouraged to get out of bed and move around as soon as they can.
But retired coal miner of 30 years Tom said he received contrasting advice from several physiotherapists that left him without a clear exercise plan and, frustrated, he would end up clashing with physio staff who encouraged him to do things he wasn’t physically able to.
Out of desperation, Tom made two formal complaints against the hospital for the treatment he received.
A spokesman for Barnsley Hospital said that while the hospital understands Tom’s concerns, hip replacements do have a greater degree of risk in rehabilitation than other types of operation, and the hospital feels it has responded to his complaints appropriately.
“We can confirm that we have previously responded formally to Mr Caine’s concerns, and are sorry that we have been unable to resolve his concerns to his satisfaction,” said the spokesman.
“Mr Caine has been advised of the steps to take in order to request an independent review of his complaint from the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.
“Should Mr Caine have any concerns that were not covered by his previous formal complaints we would be happy to investigate these.”
Tom now sees a physiotherapist once a week and, following a referral from his GP, is on anxiety medication.
“I’m not looking for anything from the hospital,” Tom said.
“But I think I am at my lowest, most useless of all my 75 years and I do not think the last run-in I had with the hospital is helping.
“I just hope I can help other people that might end up in my situation, to make sure they sort things out before it gets this bad.”
