Professor Damian Griffin OBE TD VR BM BCh MA MPhil FRCS(Tr&Orth)

Written by a private patient at St John & St Elizabeth Hospital

I have always played sports and enjoyed keeping active and I am still just on the right side of 50. Unfortunately, I probably wasn’t made as well as most people and consequently, I have had many knee operations, I had hip surgery on my right hip 6 years ago, and just now hip resurfacing on my left hip. I have experienced quite a few surgeons. So good ones, some great, and some excellent ones. Professor Damien Griffin is one of the excellent ones. He operated on my right hip 6 years ago and there was no one else that I wanted to treat my left hip this time. Surprisingly, after all my operations I am squeamish whenever surgery is discussed or on television. However, I have never felt squeamish when Damien has been discussing surgery and the procedures. As Damien explains the surgery you realise how well-planned the procedures are and I actually start to become fascinated by the engineering that goes into them. The attention to detail is brilliant and gives comfort and reassurance you are in excellent hands. I am now 6 weeks post-surgery, and everything feels great. The physio is boring but must be done and my biggest challenge now is being sensible and not overdoing the rehabilitation and exercise. For anyone requiring advice or surgery relating to their hips, I can highly recommend Damien as I know you would be under the best possible care.

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Written by a private patient at The Harley Street Specialist Hospital

I am an active person living in North Wales and enjoy a mixture of trad climbing, bouldering and fell running. I started having noticeable hip pain in 2020 and believed it was due to over-use. After 6 months rest over the winter, and I started my 2021 training cautiously with judicious amounts of physio, mobility drills and strength exercises and was able to enjoy most of summer. Come August I was having severe pain and after talking to an osteopath was advised to ask the GP for an x-ray referral. The initial diagnosis was a cam impingement, which I then had confirmed via an MRI scan. I was able to continue climbing through most of winter but come spring '22 I was in pain on a daily basis. I was reluctant to book the surgery at first as I wasn't sure if it would be effective and I didn't want to miss the climbing season. Retrospectively I am glad I did. With help from Damian and his team I am now climbing better than I have ever been. Damian has a thorough approach that involves a pre-operative arthrogram under sedation in able to get as accurate imaging as possible. If you are thinking about getting surgery but are on the fence I would encourage you to go for it - to be at the point where you are thinking about it then it must already be having a significant impact on your quality of life. Prof Griffin is one of the words experts and it's unlikely you will find someone better for the job.

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Written by a private patient at Three Shires Hospital - part of Circle Health Group

I have osteoarthritis and was in need of a hip replacement. As I had never had major surgery before, I was incredibly nervous about the procedure and about the surgeon who would perform it. I was lucky enough to be referred to Prof Griffin, who was highly recommended by the sports specialist who gave me my pre-surgery diagnosis. Prof Griffin put me at ease by always answering my questions, sometime more than once as I didn’t always remember some information. He was able to secure a surgical theatre, even during the post-pandemic lack of available theatres. And on the day of surgery he put my mind at ease as I waited. The best part was my immediate loss of pre-surgery pain after coming out of surgery. On our follow up appointment to remove my bandage, Prof Griffin explained why my surgery was so different from other posterior hip replacements, with his care in fitting my new hip to my body so precisely. It enables me to have no restrictions after surgery and enabled me to have a more speedy return to my normal, active life. Now at one month post-surgery, I am able to take longer walks and have returned to the gym, with very modified workouts. I am grateful for having been lucky enough to have such a skilled surgeon and would highly recommend him for anyone needing hip surgery, especially those people who wish yo return to previously active lives.

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Written by a private patient at The Harley Street Specialist Hospital

Professor Griffin carried out minimally invasive hip replacement surgery in my right hip just over 12months ago. This followed a period of a steadily deteriorating hip, finding increasingly in particular that I would start to hobble round the golf course after 15-20minutes and unable to swing the club properly. I was getting nowhere through the NHS route over a period of 2 or 3 years other than being referred for physiotherapy, which didn`t achieve anything in restrospect. Eventually, I managed to be referred to Damian for a 2nd opinion who first required an up to date X-ray & MRI scan. It was a light bulb moment. The answers and possible risks of not having surgery were so clearly explained by him at the first consultation and whilst there were a couple of options explained, in the end the answer as to what to do was obvious. All of this was done virtually during Covid restrictions. Virtual was fine, that didn`t matter as far as I am concerned. After surgery had taken place there followed a period of restriction, yes, alongside physiotherapy over a period of weeks to build the strength back up in the right leg to the same as the left as well as gradually swinging the golf club back to full power. I now exercise more than I did before, have lost a bit of weight as a result and am able to swing a golf club far less restricted than I did before. I walk better than I did before, in the more upright marching gait that Damian advocates. I still do regular specialist golf related physio with a specialist to improve overall flexibility. In other words, there are simply no regrets whatsoever. But the important point is this man is not only a hip expert. I cannot speak highly enough of his insistence of understanding the problem from your own personal point of view and making sure that what he recommends will meet your expectations. Highly skilled & capable people have a way of making difficult things seem easy don`t they. In my case Damian was a prime example of that. Have recently had the 12month review with him following X-ray & he will carry out further reviews in the coming years just to check on everything. If you`re a struggling golfer like I was, go and see this man, you eventually come out the other end with more motivation than you had before. Remarkable.

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Written by a private patient at The Meriden Hospital - part of Circle Health Group

Context: 19 year old active male who needed double hip surgery. Professor Griffin was really great throughout the entire process from initial thoughts all the way through to end recovery. The initial tests and scans done were thorough and reassured me that the surgery required was necessary. The before and after treatment, including the rehab was excellent and I always felt looked after by him the physio's he assigned. Highly recommend and am very thankful for all he has done.

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