Patients in severe pain are being expected to wait up to six months before receiving treatment in our region.

Pamela Spurrell, who has a long wait for an appointment

An arthritis support group has condemned health services, saying the timescales they set for seeing sufferers are a "lottery".

Their comments follow revelations in the Evening Press about waiting lists for cataract operations.

Since being diagnosed with spinal stenosis four years ago, 61-year-old Pam Spurrell, from the Malton area, has been forced to take painkillers before she can do even the most everyday tasks.

She is now waiting for hip and knee replacement operations.

A doctor at the Derwent Surgery in Malton referred her to a pain clinic to help her cope with the constant pain she lives with.

But now she faces a 25-week wait even to see a consultant at Malton, Bridlington or Scarborough.

She said: "I know I am not getting any better and all I hope for is some relief.

"My doctor said I might not be able to get an appointment in my local clinic at Malton and have to go to Scarborough or Bridlington, but I am happy to do that if I can get help.

"When I got the questionnaire, I was told the waiting time for treatment was 25 weeks. One of the questions they ask is if you feel suicidal because of the pain.

"I don't, because I have had to live with it for so long, but for some people it must seem there is no point of their life. Imagine being told in one of these standard letters that the minimum wait is 25 weeks.

"At least if you were given a date, regardless of how far away it was, it would be something to keep you going."

Robina Lloyd, spokesman for Arthritis Care, said she was dismayed to hear about Pam's case. She said: "It is a lottery how quickly patients are seen.

"It depends on where they live, the resources of their local health authority and a lot of other things. It shouldn't be like that, and we would like to see more done."

Gilly Collinson, of Scarborough and North East Yorkshire Health NHS Trust, which runs the clinic, said that if appointments had to be made a long way in advance it was unable to give a definite date until nearer the time.

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