WITH Fermanagh patients facing long journeys to Altnagelvin for a range of appointments and treatments these days – not least emergency surgery – one local woman has spoken of the difficulties the journey is posing to both her and her husband.
The woman, who is in her mid-70s and lives with her husband close to the southern border, has also spoken of the challenges she has faced getting treatment for an ongoing debilitating condition, due to the current challenges in the wider local health system.
With both her and her husband – who has early dementia and other health conditions – both having appointments at the Derry hospital recently, they found they just couldn’t make the journey from what was one of the furthermost points in the Western Trust area from Altnagelvin.
“It was just impossible for us,” she said. “I had to phone them up and cancel them. I haven’t the energy.”
The woman, who worked as a medical professional in the NHS for 43 years and has extensive experience of the health system across the UK, also told the Herald of her almost year-long journey to get a diagnosis, never mind treatment, for a problem with her ankle which has left her with mobility issues since last summer.
After attending both the SWAH ED, followed by several attempts to be seen at Maple Healthcare in Lisnaskea with limited success, she was finally referred to a podiatrist, who referred her for further investigation in December.
However, she never heard back.
“I get to the end of January, I ring Altnagelvin to discover I had been unceremoniously dumped by podiatry,” she said. “I had been discharged and nobody had told me.”
After that, her epic quest to be seen continued, and she was finally seen by a specialist physiotherapist, and was x-rayed, but was not given any treatment.
Having contacted Maple again for another condition, she explained that Dr John Porteous there was worried about her and came out to her home to see her.
“I said to my husband, I told you I should have bought my coffin, I’m obviously dying,” she joked.
The local GP secured her a further appointment, but again little progress was made in diagnosing her issue.
“I’m still limping around, and it will be a year next month,” she said, explaining how it had left her unable to walk her dogs and needing to hire a cleaner at home, as well as making everyday tasks like shopping difficult.
Stressing some of the local doctors at Maple were fantastic, she said she was worried about the health service as a whole locally, including maternity services at the SWAH and the local GP system, with medical professionals no longer wanting to work here.
“You’ve got an obviously inept management, plus the fact there is no government,” she said.
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