I have been waiting in pain for four years for op
Handyman’s despair after his appointment has been cancelled repeatedly
A SELF-employed handyman from Gwynedd says he has been waiting four years “in constant pain” for an operation to rectify a problem with his hand.
Raymond French from Garndolbenmaen says he initially had an operation, known as a trapeziectomy, to remove the carpal bones of the wrist that forms part of the thumb joint to help manage symptoms of thumb arthritis on his left hand in March 2017.
The surgery failed, and Mr French was told he would need to have a second procedure.
However, the father-of-three claims he has still not had the surgery due to it being cancelled on numerous occasions, including this week. He says he has since started losing the use of his thumb due to the failed surgery and has a constant pain in his hand.
Mr French says he was due to have the operation at Ysbyty Gwynedd this past Wednesday but received a call two days before to say it had to be rescheduled.
He said: “It’s just been a nightmare. It’s been one fight after the other, it’s never-ending.
“Each time they’ve scheduled my surgery, I’ve had to turn down work.
“The pain I get in my hand sometimes has a knock on effect because when it gets really bad I can’t work.
“It looks unprofessional of me to have to cancel or delay work several times over. What’s more frustrating is that they don’t even give a proper explanation.
“I understand Covid changed everything and all of the surgeries were cancelled, but surely it should’ve been obvious that at some point they’d have to deal with the backlog.
“It just seems that Covid was a good excuse when there was already an issue before Covid came along.
“It should not be this hard - it’s a real kick in the teeth. It’s a constant fight with them.
“I can’t afford to keep not working. I couldn’t work during lockdown which was bad enough but they don’t seem to care.
“I know it’s not just me but so many people don’t complain because they feel guilty about the state of the NHS.
“I sympathise with the nurses and doctors but that ‘poor NHS’ mentality doesn’t wash with me.
“I pay my national insurance, so it shouldn’t be this hard to be given an operation date that they can stick to. And there are hundreds more people behind me all in the same situation.
“It’s madness. The operation is the only thing that will stop the constant pain.”
Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board has now said that they have rescheduled the surgery for Mr French.
Their website states that the pandemic has caused a significant increase to waiting times for many people and say that the are “doing everything [they] can to provide treatment as quickly and as safely as possible.”
Dr Nick Lyons, Executive Medical Director at BCUHB, said: “We apologise to Mr French for the postponement to his surgery.
“We have been in contact with Mr French and a rescheduled date has been agreed.
“If Mr French has any further concerns we ask that he makes contact with us directly.”