School bus driver Alun Roberts, 78, is back behind the wheel just two months after hip replacement surgery, thanks to Ysbyty Gwynedd’s Orthopaedic team.

Alun, from Mynytho on the Llŷn Peninsula, suffered an injury in December 2023 moving furniture at home. It continued to get worse and was admitted when, in June 2024, it was discovered that he had fractured his hip.

He said: “I thought it was a muscular injury but I was sent by my GP for an X-ray at Bryn Beryl Hospital and then referred to Ysbyty Gwynedd.

“They discovered I actually had a fracture and would need to have a hip replacement. I thought I was going to be out for months, and certainly wouldn’t be back at work until next year.

“Following surgery, I was amazed to discover how great I felt and how quick I was able to move around, I hardly had any pain at all.”

His surgeon, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon Mr Muthu Ganapathi carried out the operation using the anterior approach, a minimally invasive way of carrying out this operation.

He said: “Hip replacements are amongst the most common surgical procedures in orthopaedics and are traditionally done with a posterior approach or lateral approach. This involves cutting muscles and tendons.

“Using the anterior approach means the hip joint is entered in a truly minimally invasive manner with no requirement to cut tendons or muscles. As there is less soft tissue damage, there is less pain and allows early functional recovery.”

Mr Roberts walked up and down Nant Gwrtheyrn with his wife less than two months later, and returned to work just in time for the new school term in September.

He said: “I just want to say a huge thank you to Mr Ganapathi and the team on Ogwen Ward for the outstanding care I received. It was incredible and I can’t thank everyone enough.

“I’d also like to thank Peter the physiotherapist who provided me with support following surgery.”

Mr Ganapathi added: “We have only recently started using the approach at Ysbyty Gwynedd on carefully selected patients.

“Our early impression is encouraging with patients recovering faster.”

Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, Mr Koldo Azura, who has also started using this approach said: “With traditional approaches, there are usually a number of restrictions following hip replacements to avoid dislocations. With this approach, there is very little restrictions as the risk of dislocation is very rare.”

A key priority of the health board is to improve waiting times for treatments and appointments across north Wales. While the use of new techniques to improve outcomes from surgery is a positive development for them, there is still a large focus on reducing waiting lists within orthopaedics.

Work on the new Orthopaedic Elective Hub in Llandudno Hospital is progressing well and when operational is set to transform elective orthopaedic services and provide benefits for patients, staff and the wider north Wales community, by delivering 1,900 procedures a year.

Keep up to date with this project’s progress at https://shorturl.at/2a329