Harrogate resident heads to 10 Downing Street to call on the Government to take arthritis seriously

After backing the campaign and sharing his story, John, 72, who has osteoarthritis, was invited to join Chief Executive of Versus Arthritis, Deborah Alsina, and other people living with arthritis, for the hand-in of the letter on Thursday October 10, two days ahead of World Arthritis Day.

The letter outlines five priorities for the government to commit to; including to make arthritis a health priority and tackle waiting times for essential planned care – like knee and hip replacements – so that people with arthritis can live life on their own terms again. 

It calls for more investment into musculoskeletal research to help drive life-changing breakthroughs.  It also focusses on support, for people with arthritis to stay in or return to work, and giving the right tools to ensure children and young people with arthritis can thrive at school, at home, and in the community.

John is one of 10 million people in the UK with osteoarthritis, a condition that occurs when the body can no longer maintain the joint to keep it healthy and pain-free. He was on an NHS waiting list for a hip replacement, but he couldn’t get an answer as to how long he’d be waiting. He was told he could be waiting 65 weeks – but even then, he wasn’t given a date. Without surgery, he feared he would be unable to continue working. So, in the spring of 2024 he travelled to Lithuania for a right hip replacement.

Versus Arthritis is campaigning to ensure every person with arthritis receives the treatment and care they need on time, with minimal risk, and close to where they live. Versus Arthritis believe that if people weren’t waiting far too long to access the treatment they desperately need, no one would have to take the expensive and risky decision to travel abroad for surgery.

John shared his experience with arthritis and why signing the Open Letter is so important:

“The effect of arthritis greatly decreases your quality of life, yet if the problem is diagnosed early enough, people can be treated in whatever form to improve it, either by medicine or through surgery. It must be a priority of any Government to increase funding and get people active enough to lead a normal and productive life.

“It took 7 years of GPs and hospital visits to get me on the list for an NHS hip replacement, by which time my quality of life had diminished greatly. Then to be told it may be another 18 months forced my hand to go abroad and pay for the procedure myself. During my search to find the right clinic I was shocked to talk to people through a WhatsApp group about waiting times for hip and knee replacements of up to 5 years, depending on where you lived in the UK. All of us had the same complaint; I’ve paid into the NHS all my life and shouldn't have to spend my hard-earned savings to get the treatment I need.”

Over 10 million people in the UK have arthritis, which refers to a group of conditions causing painful, stiff and restricted joints. That’s one in six living with the pain, fatigue and disability it can cause.

Deborah Alsina, Chief Executive of Versus Arthritis, said:

"For too long, arthritis has not been taken seriously. This can’t go on. People with arthritis cannot continue to live without the right support and care they need to live healthy and happy lives.

“We need the UK Government to commit to tackle NHS backlogs. We need innovation in health services that transforms treatment and care, with dedicated clinical leadership to deliver it. We need additional investment in life-changing research to find the treatments of tomorrow, and we need the right support for those in education or at work to ensure they can thrive today. "

John still has osteoarthritis and pain in his left hip and is hoping to join the waiting list for a second hip replacement and have the surgery in this country, for free, on the NHS. On the 10 October at Westminster, John will be calling the government to commit to tackling long NHS waiting times, to help people with arthritis get back to their lives.