‘I feel like I’ve been brushed aside’

Flight attendant Jean Toth, who suffers from excruciating pain in both her feet on a daily basis due to arthritis, has been told she may have to wait 45 weeks until she is assessed after being referred by her GP.

She said earlier this year: “I’ve had pains in my feet now for the past five years at least.

“With my job I am on my feet all day and it is taking its toll. It is essential I get the problem sorted but 45 weeks is outrageous and unacceptable.

“I know there is a huge backlog and there’s other people who will understandably be a higher priority than me, but almost a year just for an assessment is ridiculous. If I need an operation then I will go to the back of the queue again.”

Ms Toth, from Gilmerton, Edinburgh, has had some cortisone injections to help relieve pain and inflammation in her feet – but this is just a short-term 0 Jean Toth has been told wait will be 45 weeks

fix. She has also been in trouble with her employer for wearing flat shoes as opposed to the standard heeled footwear because of the pain it causes her.

She added: “I have no movement in either of my big toes. Because I’ve been trying to relieve the pain on the right foot, which is the worst of the two, I am actually putting added pressure on the other leg.

“Now I’m getting pains in my left knee. I don’t know how much longer I can go on like this. It is a crazy situation and in the meantime I, and so many others, are left in agony.

“I feel like I’ve been brushed to the side and forgotten about.”