An RAF veteran who has been waiting more than five years for a hernia operation has described the delay as "shocking and unacceptable". Martin Owen, from Swansea, said he is now housebound, in almost constant pain and needs his wife to care for him.
He explained that he has been booked in for at least five pre-op assessments only for the procedure itself to be postponed. The 59-year-old, who was diagnosed with combat PTSD after fighting in the Falklands War and Northern Ireland, admitted that the wait has caused a further deterioration to his mental health.
According to the Welsh Government, 750,283 patient "pathways" are awaiting planned treatment on the Welsh NHS - the 28th month in a row that this list has grown. When these are broken down, there are 589,000 individuals - 19% of the population - who are on a hospital waiting list.
Read more: Surgeon claims Wales' NHS waiting list won't come down for many months
The number of people waiting more than two years in Wales is now 59,350 - nearly three times the figure a year ago - despite such waits having been eliminated in England and Scotland. Health Minister Eluned Morgan has called on health boards to prioritise the longest waiters and "speed up the process" of treating people waiting over two years for hospital treatment.
Martin, who has a range of health problems including diverticular disease and the heart condition atrial fibrillation, said he is now tired of being "fobbed off" and has sent letters of complaint to the chief executive of Swansea Bay University Health Board and the health minister.
"When I'm sitting on the sofa I can feel the hernia twisting and it's excruciatingly painful - and I'm on morphine," he said. "To be told you're going to be seen and to get your hopes up, only for them to be dashed, is shocking. It's an absolute mess."
"My wife worked as a nurse and she had to give it up to be my carer, so it's affected her life as well."
As Martin has a range of complex health issues, he said his hernia operation needs to be carried out at Morriston Hospital due to the likelihood of him needing a spell in a high dependency unit post-procedure.
He said that he thought his operation would finally take place last August as another pre-op assessment was carried out, but at the last minute he claims he was told that Morriston's gastro team were still only dealing with cancer patients and "didn't have the staff" to deal with his case. He added that hospitals need to stop using coronavirus as an excuse for delaying operations and other treatments.
"My wife was contacted by a woman from the operating waiting lists. Just 24 hours before the operation was due to take place, she said that in a meeting with the surgical team that morning it was decided that my operation - or any other non-cancer patient - will not be carried out for the foreseeable future," he explained.
"We have no idea when this will change. They said they simply don't have enough staff. They are applying at home and abroad for key surgical positions."
Martin also needed a further spell at Singleton Hospital in the first week of November when his health took a turn for the worse. He said the conditions at the hospital were dire and "unfit for human inhabitancy".
He added: "The room I was in was completely inappropriate as it had no ventilation, no windows, and I felt like it was lacking in oxygen which I was in desperate need of. The floor was absolutely filthy and sticky, the bed plasterboards were damaged and crumbling, and there were clumps of dust under the bed."
In response, a spokesman for Swansea Bay University Health Board said: "We are very sorry to hear of Mr Owen’s ongoing concerns about his care. Mr Owen has made a formal complaint to the health board, which we are currently investigating.
"Although we cannot comment on the specific aspects of his care without his consent, we would be happy to discuss them with Mr Owen if he would like to contact us directly.
"We are trying to manage the significant backlog of patients who are waiting for their procedure as a result of the pandemic. We understand how distressing it is for people facing long waits for surgery. This is why we are developing a series of centres of excellence in our hospitals in order to work through the backlog as swiftly and efficiently as possible."
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