Eight year wait for hernia surgery
BLOOD seeping through her navel is just one of the symptoms a woman has endured waiting eight years for an operation at Cairns Base Hospital.
Woree pensioner Judy Mullan, 60, suffered a fall two days after having her gallstones removed in March 2002, resulting in a hernia.
Ms Mullan and her family claim she was referred by her then GP for outpatient surgery at the hospital, an appointment which never eventuated, despite repeat visits to the hospital for treatment.
Queensland Health denies Ms Mullan has been waiting this long, claiming the earliest referral letter it received from her GP was in August 2008.
The hospital also claims Ms Mullan had been hard to reach, after she moved house and did not supply a change of address or contact numbers – a claim the family says is untrue.
But as a category two patient, the health department recommends outpatient surgery should be done within 90 days.
Ms Mullan’s claim comes days after The Cairns Post reported on Shane Anderson and Bert
Scherschel, who have been waiting since 2008 and 2009 respectively for hernia surgery.
In the past eight years, Ms Mullan’s condition has deteriorated.
"It’s bad enough that it’s bleeding, and gurgling, and going down into my appendix," Ms Mullan said.
"It’s really giving me curry."
Following The Weekend Post’s inquiries about Ms Mullan’s long wait yesterday, Queensland Health contacted her and organised an appointment for her to see a hospital consultant on April 12.
Ms Mullan said she could not afford private health care.
Cairns Base Hospital is in the process of hiring two new surgeons and farming patients out to the Far North’s regional hospitals to relieve pressure on its blown out elective surgery waiting list.
Yesterday, Health Minister Paul Lucas acknowledged there was a problem with long waiting lists in the region, but said the solution was with the Federal Government.
"Make no mistake, outpatient waiting times are my No.1 concern in that Queensland gets ripped off compared to other states with federal financing," Mr Lucas said.
"I have made this point forcefully to the federal minister."
The Australian Medical Association of Queensland president Dr Mason Stevenson agreed with Mr Lucas, saying there was a dire need for increased Federal G
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Patient waiting: Judy Mullan, 60, says she has been waiting since 2002 for a hernia operation at Cairns Base Hospital. Picture: MIKE WATT
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