'I was treated like a VIP': Cork man skips Irish waiting lists to get new knee in Spain under EU scheme

A chance news item in a Shandon pub put a Cork HSE worker on the road to jumping years’ worth of Irish waiting lists and getting a new knee free of charge in a private Spanish hospital.

Anthony Sheehan is 62, and he works part-time as a multi-task attendant for the HSE in one of Cork city’s hospitals.

The northsider, a father of five adult children, had also previously worked part-time as a taxi driver but the number of hours he was able to get behind the wheel became fewer and fewer as the pain in his knees grew worse.

Mr Sheehan had previously worked for a time as a contract cleaner, and he found that the wear and tear of that hard graft was now affecting his health.

“It was tough work and hard work. You would be up and down ladders, power-washing, down on your knees making sure the work was of a high standard, but it has taken its toll,” Mr Sheehan told The Echo.

“I had surgery on both knees about nine years ago and the surgeon told me then that I might get a few weeks, a few months or a few years but that eventually I would need two new knees.

“I was 52 or 53 at the time. I was taking painkillers and getting cortisone injections but it really got bad over the past year and I found it hard to work.” 

Mr Sheehan said he faced a choice, to either get surgery as soon as possible or to pack up work and “go on the sick” while waiting to be seen in Cork.

“With the waiting lists, I would nearly be retired before I would get it (surgery) done and I didn’t want to give up my work.”

Letter after letter told him he was on a waiting list, but one evening last year he learned by chance of a little-known European Union law which allows patients from any EU country to avail of treatment in another EU country.

Under the EU Cross-Border Directive, Irish citizens can travel abroad for treatment in other EU countries and the HSE then pays the costs of the operation.

PINT LED TO NEW KNEE

“I was having a pint in a bar in Shandon with my friends and there was an item on the news about the cross-border scheme and I decided to check it out,” said Mr Sheehan.

Just about getting by on steroid injections, a Google search led Mr Sheehan to a company called Healthcare Abroad, and his surgery was scheduled for the start of January.

He was treated for his injury at a hospital in the upmarket seaside city of Dénia, north of Alicante on the Costa Blanca.

“I was treated like a VIP; picked up at the airport, put up in a top hotel and transferred between the hotel and HCB Hospital in Dénia for the surgery and the two physio sessions every day after the surgery. It was five-star treatment all the way,” he said.

“The HSE will reimburse all the costs of the surgery and physio in a few weeks’ time. I just had to pay for my flights and hotel and trust me, it was worth it.

“It took me two weeks to get blood tests done at home in Cork; in Spain it took two weeks for everything, surgery, rehab, the lot. If and when I need my second knee done – whenever that is – I will have no hesitation in going back to Dénia,” Mr Sheehan said.

A spokesperson for Healthcare Abroad said: “We know how much Anthony cares about his work and we were delighted to help him. We wish him all the best for the future.”