Ask her GP for an X-ray, she will need this if she goes down the Private Consultation route, otherwise seeing a Consultant is a waste of time and money, he will want her to have one before he can offer her help.
She could get the X-ray done privately herself, but she will need a referral letter from her GP, then armed with this she can go to any Private Consultant local to her.
Cheaper than going for a full op privately, and she will know her options, however her Consultant might not be able to put her onto an NHS list, he will write to her GP with his findings and her GP will then have to refer heron.
DDs consultant wasnt able to put her onto the NHS list for her knee replacement recently, (but we went Private anyway) she asked him and he said that they didn’t do that any more.