{"id":278161,"date":"2026-02-03T08:01:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T08:01:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/278161\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T08:01:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T08:01:15","slug":"is-this-the-day-ill-end-up-in-a-wheelchair-belfast-arthritis-sufferers-fears-after-seven-years-on-waiting-list-the-irish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/278161\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Is this the day I\u2019ll end up in a wheelchair?\u2019 \u2013 Belfast arthritis sufferer\u2019s fears after seven years on waiting list \u2013 The Irish News"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Belfast<\/a> woman with severe arthritis<\/a> has said she feels \u201cpowerless\u201d after years on waiting lists<\/a> with no idea when she will be treated.<\/p>\n

Mary Anderson (70) from south Belfast told The Irish News how the constant pain dominates her life, with a lack of communication about her treatment adding to her suffering. <\/p>\n

She spoke out as Arthritis UK Northern Ireland launched a new report warning of a \u201cmusculoskeletal crisis\u201d affecting over 550,000 people.<\/p>\n

This includes some people waiting up to eight years for rheumatology appointments, living in chronic pain and thousands unable to work, study or live independently.<\/p>\n

\"‘Always<\/a>\"Noah<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI actually paid privately to see a consultant last night because the pain is so awful,\u201d said Mary.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t stand for any length of time, I can\u2019t walk without a walking aid. I can\u2019t really do anything around the house.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe impact of waiting without any communication from the Trust about when I might be seen and how I\u2019m coping.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been in the system for a number of joint-related issues for up to seven years and I\u2019m still no further on.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"SeniorOver 550,000 people in Northern Ireland are affected by arthritis and other musculoskeletal conditions. (Alamy Stock Photo) <\/p>\n

While having a positive experience with her local GP surgery, she said the silence from Belfast Trust about her treatment could be \u201cdeafening.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cI get letters asking if I want to stay on the list, so I ring and ask which one because I\u2019m on several.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey tell me \u2018we don\u2019t know.\u2019 So you\u2019re basically sitting in limbo.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m powerless and the emotional impact of waking up everyday thinking \u2018is this the day that my back gets really bad and I end up in a wheelchair? Is this the day that I fall because my walking is so challenged?\u2019 <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not an easy thing to have to wake up and think about every day. I know that I\u2019m not clinically depressed, but I have periods of being very low and I have a sense of guilt that my poor husband is having to step up and do everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

She called the Health Minister Mike Nesbitt\u2019s efforts to reduce waiting lists <\/a>over the last year \u201cincredibly encouraging,\u201d but said more still needed to be done to support primary care.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat would actually stop people ending up in A&E as they can\u2019t get a GP appointment or people in hospital corridors who can\u2019t be discharged as there\u2019s no care package.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AA new report from Arthritis UK has said patients on waiting lists deserve better communication about their treatment. <\/p>\n

The report from Arthritis UK says that 79% of those with arthritis are in pain most or all of the time.<\/p>\n

A total of 43% of those affected have stopped working entirely and three-quarters (76%) say that waiting on treatment has harmed their mental health.<\/p>\n

The charity is now calling on the Department of Health to implement four changes within the next five years.<\/p>\n

This includes a strategic approach to MSK healthcare, improving care pathways and diagnostics, improving communication with patients on waiting lists and increasing awareness of how people can look after their MSK health from an early age.<\/p>\n

Sara Graham, Head of Arthritis UK in Northern Ireland, said services were now \u201cat a tipping point\u201d but positive change was within reach.<\/p>\n

\u201cShort-term fixes cannot solve a long-term crisis. But Northern Ireland has the expertise, will and opportunity to rebuild MSK services so people are not left waiting in pain for years.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Belfast woman with severe arthritis has said she feels \u201cpowerless\u201d after years on waiting lists with no…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":278162,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[30605,4501,103,121281,61,60,782,109643],"class_list":{"0":"post-278161","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-arthritis","9":"tag-belfast","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-health-and-social-care","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-ireland","14":"tag-nhs","15":"tag-stormont"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=278161"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278161\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/278162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=278161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=278161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=278161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}