Woman enduring painful three year wait on new hips

A CARRICKMORE woman enduring agonising pain every day as she waits for a double hip replacement has urged local politicians to get back to work as the crisis in the health service deepens.

Dianne McCann (50), pictured, who has both sciatica and rheumatoid arthritis in her joints, made her impassioned plea to local MLAs after a Northern Ireland Audit Office report revealed that local waiting list times had risen by a shocking 185 per-cent since 2014.

Dianne said she has been waiting for two new hips since 2020.

Currently, she is not able to work due to the severe pain, and finds it hard to do daily tasks.

At its worst, she finds herself unable to go upstairs in her two-storey home. Dianne said, “I’ve heard very little from the health service about when I will have the procedure.

“I thought I was going to get it done in August, but my consultant told me that it would be another six-to-12 months.”

“I am currently on a number of different painkillers, but I am still very much in pain. I don’t have the greatest quality of life due to pain and my lack of mobility.

“I take Tramadol every day, and that doesn’t even give relief. At one point, it was so bad that I couldn’t get up the stairs, and bought an airbed and slept downstairs in my home.”

She added, “Being in the house all the time can be isolating and lonely, and I have not been able to work, which has added to it. People on waiting lists aren’t just numbers.

“They have stories, and more needs to be done to help us.”

Calling on local MLAs to get the Executive up-and-running again to resolve the crisis, she said, “It is very frustrating to see the continued state of our politics here.

“I just hope that politicians can get their acts together, and a new Health Minister is put in place who can do something to help people like me.

Responding to the waiting list statistics, the Department of Health said it had been clear that ‘budgetary pressures and uncertainty’ had been a major impediment to elective care provision in the North.

A spokesperson for the department said, “The report accurately highlights what is required to turn the current unacceptable situation around.

“This involves long-term investment and an ongoing drive to develop dedicated elective care centres in Northern Ireland.”

West Tyrone MP, Órfhlaith Begley, said it was a ‘distressing time’ for patients and their families, as life-impacting health problems were not being addressed, and, in the worst cases, resulting in a terminal prognosis.

The MP added, “We need to see an Executive restored, and a multi-year health budget implemented to invest in the health service to hire more staff and tackle these waiting lists.”

Meanwhile, West Tyrone MLA Daniel McCrossan warned that he believes the health service is on the brink of collapse.

Mr McCrossan said, “As this Audit Office report lays out, with current funding levels we have no imminent hope of clearing this patient backlog and putting our health service back on an even footing.

“The only way we will get the funding necessary is through health service transformation that will improve services and health outcomes.”