A double amputee from Orkney suffering chronic pain has been told she would wait a year to see a consultant in Aberdeen.
Elma Hourston, 75, went to her local doctor last May wanting to see a specialist after nearly two decades of “intolerable” pain in her right leg.
At the time she was also worried that tell-tale signs of pain would become just as bad after her left leg was also amputated.
Later, the local surgery phoned to inform her she would be seen in Aberdeen in May this year, something she said is “just not right.”
Mrs Hourston, a nurse with 29 years’ experience, said: “The pain was horrendous.
“It started late last year, quite faint but it was coming on too much but thank God not to the same extent as the other one.
“The pain is getting worse and when the doctor looked at it he referred me to a consultant.”
Now having waited all this time Mrs Hourston fears that her ordeal will continue if she does not get an appointment soon.
She said: “I don’t think it is right to leave someone this long but I don’t know what the answer is – I do feel angry when the pain comes on.”
Mrs Hourston’s problems began when she was hit by a lorry aged just three years old and her ankle and sole of her foot were torn off.
She was given skin grafts and seemed to recover but in 1999 the grafts “broke down” and x-rays showed the affected part of her limb was too badly infected to be saved.
She added: “I miss a lot but I am damn determined, I go to Tesco’s and I have a laugh and a joke with the girls, I tell them “I don’t have a leg to stand on”.”
A spokeswoman for NHS Grampian said: “We are sorry to hear about Ms Hourston’s case.
“We face significant challenges around the provision of chronic pain services. It is a very specialist field of anaesthetics and suitably qualified candidates are rare.
She added: “In the meantime we continue to provide the best service we can in the current circumstances. Patients are prioritised on clinical need and if a patient’s condition changes their GP can alert the hospital.”