British senior citizen flies to India for knee op because he 'didn't trust NHS after bungled surgery'

A great-great-grandfather flew a 10,000 mile round trip for knee surgery because he did not trust the NHS after he lost a leg when they bungled a previous operation. Battling Ken Austin, 80, refused to go through the NHS again after a knee replacement on his right leg ended up with him losing the limb completely because the surgeons had mistakenly severed an artery. When faced with a similar operation on his other leg, the pensioner from Halifax, West Yorkshire, decided to spend his savings on flying to India for the procedure instead.

Mr Austin, who has just returned from the trip, said: "It's a sad case that you pay all your taxes and then don't get the service. I realise it was a tricky operation I had, but I did not trust them." He added: "It is strange to think that I have gone to a poor country for an operation."

The former foster carer's knees have been deteriorating due to his age for years and he had his first knee replacement operation on his right leg in 1993. When the pain in his right leg came back last year, he was told he needed another knee. He was told by surgeons at Bradford Royal Infirmary that it could be risky cutting through old scar tissue but decided to go ahead because he considered himself to be in the best hands. But the decision ended up costing him his leg after surgeons blundered and severed an artery.

Mr Austin said: "While I was in theatre, an artery was severed, cutting off the blood supply through my leg and foot, and what should have been an eight-day stay turned into an eight-month nightmare. "The flesh on my right leg began to die and turn black. "When ulcers started appearing all over my leg, maggots were used to try to fix the problem but eventually I was left with little choice but to have the leg removed, which was done in January last year." He added: "I couldn't believe this had happened to me. I was always an active chap, I like to travel, do a spot of gardening and I love to get out in the car for a drive. It really hit me hard. "I knew that the operation may have been a bit tricky, but what was my alternative, a wheelchair, in pain for the rest of my life? There was no way I was going to do that."

Mr Austin had to have a false leg and to walk with a stick after the failed operation. The horrific experience meant that when his left knee started to go seven months later, the pensioner began to look at other options. He said: "I couldn't go through the heartache I had been through before... "I'd heard of people going to India for surgery so I started asking around and found out a friend, who lives in Greece, had been to India for surgery without the wait of the NHS and the cost of going private. "He said he had such a great experience that I decided that is what I would do. I dare not trust the NHS with my last leg, I could not lose everything"

The wait for an operation in India is shorter and it only costs 5,000 pounds, including travel, compared to 9,000 pounds in England. Mr Austin contacted the Bharathi Raja Hospital in Chennai and by the end of the year, was in the operating theatre receiving treatment from Dr AK Venkatachalam, a UK-trained consultant orthopaedic surgeon.

He said: "I'm delighted with the results. I am completely fine now and on my way home did a detour and visited my friend in Greece to show off my new knee. I'm off to Cuba too this year." He now says that if he ever has more problems with his knees, he would not think twice before going back to India instead of using the NHS. "I'm lucky because I can afford it with my savings, others may not be so lucky," he said.

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Swedish minister: healthcare guarantee 'not working'

Health Minister Goran Hagglund has criticized the lack of progress made toward shortening wait times in Sweden's health system. He made the comments in an opinion article published in Dagens Nyheter in which he stated that the 250 million kronor spent by the government on lowering wait times has apparently had a little effect. The criticism comes in response to a report by the National Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen) showing that nearly 45 percent of patients have longer wait times than are supposedly guaranteed by the healthcare system. "These figures are not satisfactory. They show that we haven't approached the problem of availability with the level of force needed," said Hagglund to news agency TT.

Since 2005, Sweden's health system has been governed by a "healthcare guarantee" (Vardgarantin) between the national and regional governments. The guarantee states that county councils, which have primary responsibility for healthcare administration, promise to treat patients within 90 days. If treatment cannot be administered by the patient's primary hospital within 90 days, the county is to then help the patient find an alternative location within the county or even recommend the patient to a hospital in another county.

Wait times for service were also found to vary greatly from one county to another. In Jamtland county, for example, four out of ten patients couldn't even get through to their local clinic by telephone on the day they become ill.

Hagglund asserted that people are generally satisfied with the care provided-when the receive it. "But the wait to receive attention-be it a telephone call to a local clinic or a first visit to a physician-is simply too long," he said.

Hagglund concludes that the voluntary guarantee provided by county councils isn't good enough, and suggested that a guarantee mandated by legislation may be required. "County councils do a shabby job of informing patients of the fact that they can travel to another county [for care]," said Hagglund. "I believe that any new legislation will take the question of [care] availability into account." Another measure may be creating a ranking system for county health systems, in hopes that counties would be motivated to not end up last in the rankings.

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