A DUNFERMLINE man says he's now facing a knee operation after waiting more than two years to have surgery on his hip.

David Fleming, 62, of Ochil Terrace, injured his hip in an accident back in 2019 and, after deciding not to go straight to A&E when it happened, has been faced with difficulties ever since.

"I actually thought it was just a muscle strain so left it for two or three weeks until I had to go to the Victoria Hospital," he explained.

"I got taken into triage and was told because it was an old injury, I had to go and see my GP but I couldn't get an appointment.

"I eventually had a face-to-face appointment at my GP at the end of 2021 and he said he was going to send me for an x-ray and one of the other GPs then phoned to say it (his hip) was destroyed and was needing replaced.

"I went down to see the surgeon and the next week got a letter on with a date for the operation and on the same letter, it said it was cancelled. Since then, I have been seen about my left knee and I have got to get an operation on that as that has got bad because of this.

"I just want it fixed so I can get on with my life. I have to get my hip done before I can get my knee done."

David had the chance to raise the issue with Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar at a pre-election event in Dunfermline and he enlisted the help of MSP Alex Rowley to help him but is still waiting for a surgery date.

NHS Fife said they were unable to comment on matters relating to individual cases for reasons of patient confidentiality.

Director of acute services Claire Dobson added: "We recognise that most patients requiring elective procedures are waiting considerably longer than they would have done prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, and that situation is mirrored across the country.

“During the initial phase of the COVID pandemic, elective orthopaedic procedures such as hip and knee replacements were halted to enable health boards to care for the large numbers of patients who contracted the virus and required hospital care, which has resulted in health boards across Scotland now having much longer waiting lists for these types of procedures.

“We resumed our elective surgical programme at the earliest possible stage in order to minimise waiting times for patients, and over the course of the last two years, we have steadfastly continued to carry out as many of these procedures as possible, despite the unprecedented and unyielding pressures on healthcare services.

“Patients requiring elective orthopaedic procedures are prioritised based on national guidelines to ensure those patients with the greatest clinical need are seen first, however, the new infection prevention measures introduced following COVID mean we cannot yet carry out the same number of procedures we could prior to the pandemic.

“We are continually working on ways of increasing capacity across our elective surgical programme, and Fife benefits from having one of the most forward-thinking and innovative orthopaedic teams in the country, becoming the first board in Scotland to carry out both hip and knee replacements as day cases.

"This has enabled us to see greater numbers of patients and shorten the length of time patients are required to remain in hospital.

“Later this year, we will also see the completion of the Fife Orthopaedic National Treatment Centre at the Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy, at a cost of £33 million.

"Although initially conceived to help future-proof the elective orthopaedic programme against rising demand, the new purpose-built centre will provide us with much-needed additional theatre capacity, which will prove valuable in the months and years to come.”