Chris ‘Hoppo’ Hopkinson is a multiple World Ultra Cycling Association champion who lives in Guernsey. He hung up his lycra and helmet last year, after racing through shoulder problems that he was told required urgent surgery. But nearly 20 months later, that surgery is still not booked.
Mr Hopkinson said he has faced misdiagnosis, misinformation, poor management and lack of accountability from both the Medical Specialist Group and Health & Social Care.
‘I just want to not be in pain,’ he said.
‘I have trouble sleeping. I’ve not slept properly for over 19 months now, because I have no comfy place. Either side I lie on is so painful. All I want is mending.’
Mr Hopkinson injured his shoulder, a labrum tear, while lifting a heavy load at work as a local refuse and recycling driver and loader in October 2024.
He was referred by his GP to the Medical Specialist Group, and had to take four weeks off work while waiting ‘in agony’ for his referral appointment. After five months of no contact from the MSG – and working through the pain – Mr Hopkinson contacted the group, and discovered that his referral had been lost. That, he said, was the first of many road blocks down a ‘long, dark tunnel’, and he has had to use all his sporting tenacity to try to address matters.
He said he felt he had been failed by the local healthcare system.
‘The thing that worries me is that I have been chasing this up constantly,’ he said.
‘I have sent emails to everybody I can think of. I’ve been to Citizens’ Advice, I’ve been into the governance office, I’ve messaged Deputy George Oswald, and it’s taken me this long – two years till I have the operation. What about the people who haven’t been as annoying as I have? There must be other people on this island who are also suffering, but just trusting that it’s all in hand.’
After finally receiving an X-ray, CT scan and multiple MRIs, Mr Hopkinson was told he would need a full shoulder replacement. But months later, he received an email from the MSG stating that all shoulder replacement surgeries in Guernsey were to be put on hold until further notice.
At that point he filed a formal complaint to the MSG, which was upheld.
Then, after finding solace off-island from a shoulder specialist unit in Wigan, Mr Hopkinson discovered that he had been misdiagnosed by the local surgeon, who had – also unknown to Mr Hopkinson – since retired.
‘I’m glad that it had been postponed on-island because one thing I wasn’t told by the guy at MSG was that if I had a full shoulder replacement, that would make me “disabled” for life,’ he said.
‘I would have to leave my job at States Works, because I wouldn’t be able to lift, and I wasn’t told that at all.’
Instead, he said, the specialist has recommended an ‘urgent surgery’ to repair the tear. And in order to receive the surgery, Mr Hopkinson needs to have another specific scan – an MRI arthrogram – which he waited a further two months for until he chased, and was assured that he was a top priority and arrangements were being made.
‘I later found out that the machine that does that scan in the island had stopped working and been ripped out weeks ago – before that email was sent,’ said Mr Hopkinson.
Months of persistence later, including one off-island surgery date missed and several emails that have been ignored, Mr Hopkinson said he was shocked by the challenges he has faced. He has shared the emails he has sent to HSC and MSG with the Guernsey Press, including one to HSC president Deputy George Oswald.
‘I would like to hear your thoughts on this, as everyone seems to want to pass the buck,’ Mr Hopkinson wrote.
‘In your earliest response to my first email, you said it was MSG’s responsibility. They say it’s HSC’s. All I want is putting out of pain from the injury that was caused working for the States.
‘I’ve been failed by MSG. I’ve been failed by HSC. And this whole situation shows the island and its healthcare system in an extremely poor light.’
To add to his further concern, Mr Hopkinson has been taking strong painkillers, co-codamol and tramadol, throughout his wait.
‘I realised three weeks ago, “my goodness I am addicted to these”, so I stopped cold turkey, which I now realise you shouldn’t do,’ he said.
‘I went through weeks of withdrawals, not very well at all. It’s knocked my immune system right down, and I’ve now got shingles – which I could have really done without.
‘My doctor has now prescribed me a far better painkiller that’s non-addictive, non-opioid. He didn’t realise, initially, that it would be this long – because it shouldn’t have been. He’s seen all the emails and said, “no, this should not be happening on my island”.’
Despite initially denying the request, Mr Hopkinson said that he had now been told that the States would fund his treatment in Wigan. He is booked to have an MRI arthrogram there later this month and is hopeful that surgery will soon follow.
‘It should have taken nine-12 months for me to be mended,’ he said.
‘I am getting to the point where I’m not going to be able to work anymore.’