Pensioner is told she can’t have new hip on Labour’s Welsh NHS before 2020
‘It has absolutely ruined my life’
A PENSIONER last night revealed she faces two years of excruciating pain after being told she must wait until 2020 for a hip replacement on the Welsh NHS.
Ethel Barford, 77, was put on the waiting list in February after she began suffering from arthritis in her hip a few months earlier.
But the previously keen walker was shocked when doctors said there was no prospect of her undergoing the surgery she needs until May 2020.
Last night she branded her treatment at the hands of the Labourrun Welsh NHS as ‘outrageous’ and ‘inhumane’.
She is in so much pain she struggles to walk short distances and is effectively housebound. Miss Barford told Channel 4 News: ‘It’s unacceptable, but it’s not just unacceptable – it’s inhumane to allow people to suffer for all of that length of time.
‘I know osteoarthritis of the hip is not going to kill me but it’s absolutely ruined my life. Sometimes it’s absolutely excruciating. There have been a couple of occasions when the pain suddenly becomes so bad that my leg gave way from under me and I ended up in a heap on the ground.
‘It is just such a horrible, horrible thing. Particularly living alone in an area where we don’t have amenities close by. Everything I loved about living in this area is now a problem.’
Official data for April showed there were just under 9,000 patients in Wales waiting more than 36 weeks for crucial trauma and orthopaedic treatment, with 55 waiting more than two years – nearly the highest number in at least seven years.
On Wednesday, the Welsh Govhe ernment pledged to cut waiting times and promised an extra £30million of targeted funding to help reduce waiting lists.
Welsh Health Secretary Vaughan Gething said: ‘This extra funding is available to health boards to help them reduce waiting times in key pressure areas.’
He added that ‘we need to find new ways to reduce waiting times for patients who have already waited beyond our targets’.
Speaking of Miss Barford’s case agreed her treatment was not acceptable and apologised.
But a waiting time crisis is not a new phenomenon for the Welsh Labour Government.
For the NHS in Wales has long been trapped in a vicious cycle of swingeing cuts and failing to deliver appropriate care.
As part of the Mail’s four-year investigation, it was revealed in 2015 in an official Government report that the Welsh NHS lagged behind its English counterpart in almost every measure.
The first comparative study, carried out by the House of Commons library, revealed that patients in Wales waited far longer for vital tests and life- saving treatment than those in England. Astonishingly, the target for treating cancer cases referred by GPs in Wales at the time had not been met for seven years.
The deteriorating state of health care led to an exodus of Welsh taxpayers travelling over the border to England in a desperate attempt to receive adequate treatment on time. For Miss Barford, who lives near Llangollen, North Wales, going across the border is not yet an option, as she prepares for two years of pain. She said: ‘I never dreamed it would be that long.’
The Welsh Government says there is now a record number of frontline staff working in its health service. A spokesman said: ‘Investment in the NHS in Wales is at a record high and we spend more per head on health than England.
‘Over the last three years we have invested an additional £130million to significantly cut waiting times ... and committed extra resources to tackle waiting lists in North Wales.
‘However, despite significant improvements, we recognise more needs to be done to ensure everyone in Wales gets high-quality care when they need it.’