NHS waiting times: Woman in agony waiting for hip op

"Seeing how much pain she's in is killing me," the mother of a woman waiting four years for a hip operation has said.

It is only by screaming that Marie Morgan, from Carmarthenshire, can express her level of suffering.

The 30-year-old, who has multiple brain conditions, can speak only a few words and needs round-the-clock care.

Swansea Bay Health Board said it hoped to tackle the backlog by increasing capacity at one of its hospitals.

It comes as the latest figures showed the numbers on waiting lists for non-urgent hospital treatment in Wales have hit record levels again for the 20th month in a row.

"Her hip is out and is rubbing against bone... there's no socket there," Marie's mother Sandra said.

"She can't travel because every time I move her she's screaming in pain.

"It's horrible. I feel I can't help her and seeing her in so much pain is killing me."

Marie has cerebral palsy, severe epilepsy and fluid on the brain and the constant agony caused by the wait has meant these conditions, including her seizures, have become "horrendous".

Sandra said: "She used to be so happy, we used to go to the pool, play music... I've got videos of her dancing it was amazing. Now she's gone downhill.

"I don't think she can last much longer to be honest with you."

Marie, from Penygroes, is on a waiting list to have surgery in Morriston Hospital, Swansea.

Her mother said staff have told her she is considered to be high priority, but despite her best efforts, she is still in the dark about when the operation will happen.

"They said because of Covid they weren't operating, now they say it's staff shortages so it's something all the time.

"I feel I'm knocking my head against a wall. It's not fair, she's only 30 and suffering the way she is."

The health board said it knows how distressing it is for people who have been long awaiting surgery and understands the "devastating" effect it can have on their lives.

But it said "the pandemic has stretched NHS resources to the limit, leading to record waiting times" on top of the usual emergency and winter pressures.

It plans to establish a centre of excellence for orthopaedic surgery at one of its hospitals will increase capacity by 3,000 cases a year and help tackle the backlog.

Figures released on Thursday showed there were 683,331 on December's waiting lists although the latest monthly rise was the smallest since the pandemic began.

But people waiting the longest - more than nine months - rose by 2,664 to a record 244,331.

Last week, Health Minister Eluned Morgan confirmed that a plan to tackle long NHS waiting lists and times in Wales will be published in April.

It will include specific targets about how quickly backlogs can be reduced.

Health boards are also due to submit their local proposals to increase planned activity to the Welsh government by the end of March.

Judith Paget, chief executive of NHS Wales, said the plan would also set out extra support for those people who have had to wait the longest.

She told the committee that in December the NHS in Wales was operating at 81% of its pre-covid surgical capacity and 89% of its pre-covid outpatient activity, but admitted those figures would not reflect the full disruption caused by the Omicron wave.

The Welsh government said it was spending a quarter of a billion pounds this year on NHS recovery.