Latest news with #surgery
Telegraph
4 hours ago
- Health
- Telegraph
‘Thanks to two years on the NHS waiting list, I'm now an inch shorter'
In March 2022, Jason Foster tripped over his dog, fell down the stairs, and broke his back. The pain was harrowing. Even worse, he says, it was matched by the agony he faced during his 20-month wait for surgery on his T12 wedge fracture, owing to the inefficiency of the NHS. 'For almost two years, I survived on stoicism and morphine,' says Foster. Following the accident, which occurred while he was renovating his late mother's house near Taunton, copy-editor Foster, 55, was referred back to a hospital in south London, near his Surrey home. 'I had an X-ray, and was told I'd need to have an operation,' he says. 'They then sent me on my way with pain relief, a walking stick, and a spinal brace to stop me going 'full Jenga'. No-one told me how long I would have to wait.' Over the next few months, the hospital made three appointments for him, which it then cancelled before the allotted times. 'I turned up on another morning, and it was the doctor's day off,' says Foster. 'When I asked one receptionist some hard questions, she called her senior colleague who said I had 'hurt her feelings'.' In August 2022, to his great relief, Foster was finally called in for surgery, but the consultant on the rota that day didn't agree that an operation was the best course of action, so Foster was sent home again. 'Meanwhile, I had a hole in my back and was getting shorter by the day, because my vertebrae were crushing into one another,' he says. The question of 'urgency' Cancelled appointments, lost paperwork, a black hole of communication – anyone who uses the NHS will be used to this catalogue of failures. Perhaps the most concerning thing is that these delays don't just affect routine appointments, but those also deemed ' urgent '. According to a King's Fund report released in May last year, the NHS declares that 92 per cent of people waiting for elective (non-urgent) treatment, such as cataract surgery or a knee replacement, should wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to their first treatment. 'This standard was last met in September 2015,' the King's Fund said at the time. 'Since then, performance has declined steadily, until the Covid-19 pandemic, when it deteriorated rapidly.'
Arab News
5 hours ago
- Health
- Arab News
Saudi Arabia's KSrelief performs over 4,484 successful eye surgeries in Pakistan
ISLAMABAD: Saudi Arabia's King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) performed over 4,484 successful eye surgeries across Pakistan under a voluntary program to provide free medical services to the underprivileged, state-run media reported this week. The state-run Pakistan Television (PTV) reported on Thursday that KSrelief successfully concluded 11 comprehensive eye treatment camps in Pakistan under the 'Noor Saudi Volunteer Program 2025.' These camps, PTV said, were organized in collaboration with the Al-Basar International Foundation and Ibrahim Eye Hospital Karachi. The camps were held to provide free medical services to underprivileged individuals suffering from blindness or other eye-related ailments, it added. These camps were organized in both the urban and rural areas of Pakistan's Sindh, Balochistan, Punjab, and Azad Jammu and Kashmir regions where access to quality eye care services remains limited, PTV said. 'During the campaign, medical teams examined a total of 43,294 patients and performed over 4,484 successful surgeries,' the state television said. 'Additionally, 11,050 eyeglasses were distributed free of charge, along with the provision of prescribed medications to deserving patients.' It said these camps were conducted in various Pakistani cities such as Karachi, Matli, Kandhkot, Shikarpur, Hyderabad, Naseerabad, Kharan, Khuzdar, Jhelum and Rawalakot. The camps enabled thousands of patients to benefit from specialized eye treatments due to which many were able to regain their vision. 'This initiative reflects the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's strong humanitarian commitment and its dedication to enhancing the lives of people affected by visual impairments,' PTV said. KSrelief has implemented hundreds of projects in Pakistan worth millions of dollars to improve the lives of vulnerable communities. Efforts include emergency relief for natural disasters, and long-term projects addressing food security, health care, education, and shelter. The Saudi charity organization has one of the largest humanitarian budgets available to any aid agency across the world, which has allowed its officials to undertake a wide variety of projects in more than 80 countries. Pakistan is the fifth largest beneficiary of its aid and humanitarian activities and has greatly benefited from its assistance since the 2022 monsoon floods.
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Health
- Yahoo
9-year-old Florida girl whose hand was nearly bitten off by shark recalls attack: 'I start screaming'
A 9-year-old girl in Florida is recovering from surgery after a shark nearly bit her hand off while she was snorkeling on a beach off Boca Grande last week. Leah Lendel spoke about that terrifying moment on Thursday during a press conference at the Tampa General Hospital, where she received treatment. "I didn't see anything. I was just snorkeling," Leah said. "I went up to breathe. And then, something hard bit me and tried to take me away." "Then I pick up my hand and is all in blood," Leah recalled. "I start screaming with my mom." Leah's mother, Nadia Lendel, said she didn't think her daughter "was going to have a hand' after seeing the injury. 'It was really, really bad,' Nadia said, her voice breaking. "It's some sort of miracle that now she has a hand.' Dr. Alfred Hess, one of the orthopedic surgeons who treated Leah, said that throughout his career he has seen several animal injuries from alligators to lions and shark bites. 'A shark injury is both a curse and a blessing. In this case, because the shark's teeth are so sharp, the cut through the wrist is clean and not jagged. It doesn't ruin all the tissue. So, we have good tissue to work with and put it back together in a timely fashion,' Hess said. Timing was of the essence for doctors to save Leah's hand. Dr. Joshua Linnell, another orthopedic surgeons who treated Leah, said the key is to see patients "before the six hour mark" because after that "they start losing muscle tissue." Jay Lendel, Leah's father, was also with her when the shark attack happened. After seeing Leah's hand nearly bitten off, Jay picked his daughter up and ran to the road, searching for help. 'I also didn't think it was possible because I was holding her hand in my hand and I didn't think there was any chance at all of saving it," Jay said. "I'm so thankful to the surgeons for making such a miracle.' While at the hospital recovering from her injury, Leah received periodic visits from Belle, a golden retriever who works at the Tampa General Hospital as its official facility dog, providing emotional support to young patients. 'She always came to lick me and play with me,' Leah said. Her mother, Nadia, said Leah would always ask when Belle was coming to visit and would tell her older sisters all about it. At the press conference, Leah showed up with a Carter pillow, or as Dr. Linell's patients like to call it, "the cheese pillow." It helps patients with upper limb injuries keep their hand elevated to prevent swelling during their recovery. "She's done a fantastic job, I can already tell you," Linell said. As Leah's long road to recovery continues, the girl said she can't wait until her hand is healed, so she can go back to "playing with all my siblings." This article was originally published on
BBC News
16 hours ago
- Health
- BBC News
Doctor warns of rise in problems from Turkish weight loss surgery
An obesity doctor has told an inquest his team has dealt with more than 100 problems in patients who have undergone weight loss surgery in Adil, who works at Luton & Dunstable Hospital, was giving evidence at the inquest of 40-year-old Hayley Butler, a dog groomer from Norwich who died of organ failure after a sleeve gastrectomy at the Ozel Gozde Hospital in said Miss Butler had died as a result of the procedure and the "lack of safety netting" area coroner Yvonne Blake said it was clear the operation "had not been done properly". Miss Butler flew to Izmir with a friend in September 2024 for the operation to remove a large part of her stomach after apparently failing to get help in the UK, the inquest in Norwich transfers, accommodation, pre-op tests and medication were all included in the trip at a cost of about £2, the procedure, the hearing was told she was given a 'fit to fly' letter from the hospital and returned home two days later, but was already feeling unwell. In a statement read by the coroner, her mother Gill Moore said Miss Butler was "constantly thirsty and had no energy... but thought it was normal". She added: "Things got worse over the weekend of the 5 October; she was projectile vomiting and could only consume tiny amounts of anything."Miss Butler was admitted to Norfolk and Norwich Hospital and later transferred to a specialist bariatric unit at Luton and Dunstable Hospital on the morning of 11 October. She eventually went into surgery at 17:00 and afterwards Mrs Moore said she was told her daughter had a 30% chance of died on 24 October of multiple organ failure due to Moore said a doctor told her it was "the worst case he'd ever seen". Mr Adil told the court surgeons found fluid in Miss Butler's abdomen and four perforations in organs. He said it was his opinion the cause of her death was "what happened in Turkey and the lack of safety netting after major bariatric surgery". The tertiary bariatric unit at his hospital had witnessed a "significant rise in complications" from similar procedures in the country, he told the hearing."We have managed more than 100 such complications in our unit, which is a matter of significant concern," said Mr Moore said there was a lack of communication and support from medics at the Luton hospital as her daughter's life support was removed and she died, which she said would haunt her for the rest of her Ms Blake, who recorded a narrative conclusion, said that "the way they [staff] left you to be with Hayley when she died was astonishing".She said she would raise concerns about Miss Butler's sleeve gastrectomy with regulators in Ozel Gozde Hospital and Luton & Dunstable Hospital have been approached for comment.
Daily Mail
17 hours ago
- Sport
- Daily Mail
GRAPHIC CONTENT WARNING: Footy star reveals the bizarre way he ended up with 40 stitches in his leg
Jeremy Marshall-King has taken to Instagram to reveal to his followers the gruesome injury he sustained during Redcliffe's clash against Penrith in Round 6. The 29-year-old had suffered a deep cut to his right quad during that game which later required stitches. However, the injury reopened during the Dolphins' Round Nine defeat by the Roosters, with Marshall-King playing just 63 minutes of that match. He would subsequently be sidelined for a month after the cut became infected, and only returned for the Dolphin's clash 56-0 victory against the Dragons at the beginning of the month. He then revealed he had to go back into hospital to receive surgery. 'Everyone thought it was just a little scratch but it was two cuts on my leg that were pretty deep,' Marshall-King said to The Courier Mail. GRAPHIC CONTENT WARNING Marshall King has been absent for a month after needing surgery to clean out and stitch up this horror wound that became infected 'It got infected at one point and probably didn't heal enough when I came back. 'I reopened it and had to go back in and get surgery. 'They had to clean it out because it got infected and I had over 40 stitches in my quad – inside and outside.' King, who began his NRL career playing for the Wests Tigers, moved to the Canterbury Bulldogs in 2018. The 29-year-old would later move to the Dolphins where he has made 41 appearances for the Queensland outfit. For King, though, it was worth the wait to be back on the footy pitch. He's made an impact on the pitch too, running over 100m in his last two games, helping the Dolphins secure back-to-back wins. 'It wasn't nice but I had to get it done. It's great to be back,' he said. 'Ot is a little setback in my footy this year but it is good to be back playing and getting the wins.'
