Woman, 81, 'utterly disgusted' with NHS as she struggles to cope with long wait for operation
An 81-year-old woman who says her knee leaves her in "agony" said she is "utterly disgusted" with the treatment she has received from the NHS as she faces a long wait for an operation.
Christine Jones is heavily dependent on a walker because of her injuries but has been told that she will have to wait four years for a knee replacement.
It comes as the latest hospital waiting times show there were nearly 600,000 people on treatment waiting lists in August.
The 81-year-old from Newport has been waiting for a hip operation for over a year. Christine also needs an operation on her knee which she's been warned could be four years away.
Christine was angry to hear that waiting times increased again this month and is one of five people living in Wales who are currently on an NHS waiting time list.
"I want quality of life now, not in 4 years - I might be dead in 4 years' time," Christine told ITV Wales.
She added: "I don't know what I'm going to do because I have days when I am in agony. I'm on 900ml of Gabapentin a day just to keep me moving.. Without the Gabapentin I can't function at all I am in agony, and I mean agony."
According to the latest figures, there were nearly 600,000 people on treatment waiting lists in August, slightly lower than the previous month - but close to the record high.
Those waiting the longest for treatment has increased with the number of cases waiting over 36 weeks for treatment again topping a quarter of a million.
The Welsh government's pre-covid target was that nobody should be waiting that long for treatment.
In response to the record waiting time figures, Health Minister Eluned Morgan MS admitted that it was disappointing to see the overall figures rise again but stated that "there was simply not enough money in the system."
She said: "It is disappointing to see overall waiting lists rise again, but I have been clear with health boards that I expect to see improvement in this area, and we will continue to support them to achieve that.
"We've got more and more people coming on the waiting lists despite the fact that health services are working flat out across Wales... There's simply not enough money in the system," she said.
Christine's frustrations with the NHS are clear as she calls for "a radical overhaul from the top."
When reflecting on the beginning of the NHS Ms Jones says everyone believed in it, but now that belief has disappeared.
She said: "We old people have paid in the most... Once we got the NHS we all believed in it. We believed it would do right by us and we paid our dues, but I don't think it's done right by me."
A spokesman for Aneurin Bevan University Health Board said: “We’re very sorry to hear that Ms Jones feels she has not received the level of service that we would expect, and we would urge her to contact us to discuss her concerns in more detail.
“After the disruption of the Covid-19 pandemic, our staff have worked incredibly hard to bring the waiting lists for knee and hip surgery down significantly, and they continue to work to reduce this further.”
To help cut waiting times the Health Minister announced the rollout of digital innovations that could also save NHS Wales money.
Eluned Morgan MS said: "Two new digital systems are being rolled out across Wales, the Welsh Nursing Care Record (WNCR) and Electronic Prescribing and Medicines Administration (EPMA).
"Swansea Bay University Health Board has also developed technology to help improve flow through hospitals, which is vitally important to help cut waiting times.
"All this is streamlining administrative processes for healthcare staff and allowing them more time to focus on providing patient care."