A WOMAN who needs a knee replacement must lose weight or fund a costly operation herself - despite her doctor saying she has “exhausted all her measures” to shed more pounds.

Marlene Magson, 70, from Strensall, is in severe pain and very immobile but has been told to lose weight before having surgery on her left knee which has deteriorated severely, according to her doctor.

Two years ago Mrs Magson paid £10,500 to have an operation on her right knee because her body mass index (BMI) is over 30.

A controversial policy at NHS Vale of York Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) says anyone with a BMI higher than 30 must lose weight or wait a year for non-emergency procedures. Mrs Magson was forced to pay for her operation despite losing three stone in an attempt to fall under the guidelines.

In October 2018 she was told she needed a new left knee, but she said York CCG would again not fund the operation.

Mrs Magson said: “The CCG sent me a document highlighting the physical situations in which an exception could be made to the guidelines, which my doctor said in her referral letter that I qualified for.

“Yet in an independent panel review the decision was still rejected.”

Under the guidelines, exceptions can be made for knee surgery when “delay could lead to significant deterioration and when knee surgery is clinically urgent because there is rapidly progressive or severe bone loss that would render reconstruction more complex”.

Mrs Magson’s doctor said she had “exhausted all her measures” to lose weight, “including pain relief, pacing, active exercise and steroid injections”.

In a letter to the CCG, the doctor said: “Mrs Magson is struggling with her mobility and specialist consensus is the only way we will improve this for her is by replacing the knee joint.

“She is currently not eligible due to her weight, however, over the past year she has lost three stone and continues to be very motivated in her weight loss programme. By delaying this treatment we will be putting her right knee under added strain and causing damage.

“Currently Mrs Magson is fully self caring, however, if her mobility were to further decline she would struggle to take care of herself. She is struggling to do any exercise as even swimming causes her left knee to be painful and this is having an impact on her ability to lose weight. Delaying this procedure may be detrimental to her recovery from her right knee and the pain will continue to get worse.”

However, the appeal was subsequently rejected.

Julian Sturdy, MP for York Outer, also wrote to the head of York CCG to request that it review the decision, but the request was turned down.

Mr Sturdy said: “Having contacted the leadership of the Vale of York NHS CCG on behalf of Mrs Magson, I am concerned to hear that they will not review their decision on this case.

“I will of course continue to represent my constituent, and will press the CCG to explain its position and to revise their judgement on this request for surgery.”

Mrs Magson added that she has had to use a walking stick for the past four months and must take eight tablets a day which could lead to stomach ulcers.

She added: “In the end the tablets will cost more than the replacement operation.”

A spokesman for the CCG said: “The CCG is very sorry to hear about this lady’s situation.

“An individual’s medical history is highly confidential, and because the CCG does not have access to patient details, decisions about treatments that are not routinely commissioned are not made by the CCG but by an Independent Funding Review (IFR) panel.

“The panel accepts individual funding requests for funding cases from clinicians where ‘an exceptional clinical need’ is demonstrated when a patient does not meet specific criteria.

“The IFR panel consists of GPs who are supported by appropriate specialists that assess the clinical information and evidence provided to them and considers applications against set criteria in commissioning policies. The panel supports funding if exceptional clinical need has clearly been demonstrated and offers the opportunity for appeal.

“To support patients to be the healthiest they can be for an elective surgical procedure, the CCG commissions a Tier Three Obesity Management Service. This service plays an integral role in delivering the Vale of York Prevention and Better Health Strategy. It is available to patients aged 18 years of age and over, with a BMI of 35 or more, to achieve a healthy weight.”

Last month The Press reported how Elizabeth Moran, 68, from Haxby, York, needed a knee replacement but had been told she must lose weight or fund the £13,000 operation herself.