WHEN Ron Walker’s NHS consultant laid out his treatment options, he knew he had no option but to go to India.

Either he could wait ten months for a hip-resurfacing operation on the NHS or he could have the operation done privately in the next couple of weeks for £12,000.

Having waited ten months in agony for an appointment to see the consultant, Walker decided it was time to go down another route that he was investigating. He had come across an agency called Globe Health Tours, which was offering the same operation as part of a £4,500 package at MIOT hospital, Madras. Flights were an additional £350.

What really impressed him was the detail the prospective surgeon in India went into when finding out about Walker’s condition once he had made contact. The surgeon also had considerably more experience in performing the operation than Walker’s consultant in Harrogate.

So last April Walker set off on a 16-day package trip, which included preoperative assessment, six days of aftercare including physiotherapy (a private hospital in the UK was offering just two days’ aftercare) and accommodation in a hotel in the hospital grounds.

He has no complaints. “The place was absolutely spotless and there was 24-hour care. They couldn’t do enough for you,” he says.

Unfortunately, Walker dislocated the hip shortly after the operation so he had to undergo more surgery and the operation scar became infected on his return home. However, Walker does not believe that either of these setbacks reflect on the quality of the care he received in India. His consultant in Harrogate told him the X-rays indicated that the work looked to be of good quality.

Three months after the operation, Walker feels mobile, back to normal and pleased with his decision. SIMON CROMPTON