Patient in £11k debt after back pain 'hell' drives her to private care

Stephanie Blake is in £11,000 debt but free from pain after she sought private care for her back operation rather than wait a year

A Larne patient has put herself in £11,000 debt to pay for surgery because she could no longer cope with the back pain she was suffering.

Stephanie Blake is just one of those affected by long NHS waiting lists in Northern Ireland.

On Thursday, a leading UK health expert said heads would roll in England if its waiting lists were on the same scale.

Stephanie Blake said her problems began three years ago following her second spinal surgery and she suffered "nine days of sheer hell at home".

She said she had to make a stark choice after being told she could wait up to a year for surgery for a herniated disc in her back.

"I asked my husband to kill me when I was at home for nine days because I could not tolerate the level of pain," she says.

Stephanie added that the pain relief she was on only took away about 20% of the pain "to make it where it wasn't so mind blowing".

"I still could not have imagined living with that pain for a full year."

'Terrified'

She said she did not have the money to pay for the surgery she required and so had to turn to credit cards and borrowing from others.

Due to her back problems she has been unable to work for a number of years and said this, coupled with supporting a daughter at university and a retired husband, meant she had no savings to rely upon.

Stephanie said she was "forced into" turning to private health care and is "terrified" that she could suffer a herniated disc again in the future.

As she has had a number of surgeries on her back, Stephanie says the doctors have advised her, that if this happens again, her only option would be for rods and steel to be placed in her back.

"I can't even begin to imagine how much that would cost me," she said.

"I just couldn't afford that. I'd have to sell my home to do that.

"It's sad to see the national health system struggle in such a way."

Her comments come as the director of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), Janice Smyth, called for Simon Hamilton to resume his position as health minister as soon as possible.

Mr Hamilton resigned along with several other DUP ministers as a result of the political crisis at Stormont.