A FORMER steelworker who has waited four painful years for a knee replacement operation should have his surgery "within the next six months".

Sixty-one-year-old James McCarthy's furious family told the Argus on Tuesday that he had been told he had been put on an urgent waiting- list, only for him to find out weeks later that he was still on the routine waiting-list.

The bowls champion and DIY enthusiast, from Scott Close, Gaer, Newport, who is now housebound through his deteriorating condition, went from thinking his nightmare would soon be over to being "absolutely devastated", according to step-daughter Victoria Colley-Wall, also from Newport.

A spokesman for Gwent Healthcare Trust said, however, that Mr McCarthy had not been put on an urgent waiting-list, but on an initiative waiting-list, which would be tackled using extra cash provided by the National Assembly for Wales.

"Mr McCarthy is on a routine waiting-list for his knee operation.

"Due to the length of time he has been waiting he has also been added to what we call an initiative list," said the spokesman.

"Extra funding has recently been made available from the National Assembly for these out-of-hours initiative sessions.

"There are currently around 40 people in front of him on the initiative list and we would anticipate his operation would be carried out within the next six months. "All patients are prioritised in order of clinical need and we have been dealing with extremely high numbers of emergency cases. "We are sorry for this wait, but Mr McCarthy has never been on an urgent list for his knee operation."

*In our story on Tuesday we stated that despite repeated attempts to contact them, no-one from the trust had been available to comment on the family's claims. This was incorrect and we apologise.