A young Co Dublin woman is refusing to be discharged from Tallaght Hospital with serious concern that she could be 18 months on a waiting list, while in severe pain.
23-year-old Rathcoole native, Hannah Murphy, is currently in Tallaght Hospital with excrutiating back pain. An MRI scan has revealed that there is a narrowing of the vertebrae.
The young woman has just completed a college course in psychotherapy and says that she can't afford to go private. She has been suffering from back pain since the age of 15 due to a fall from a horse.
According to Ms Murphy, she has been waiting a number of days for the orthopedic team which she says she still has not seen.
She claims that attempts are being made to discharge her and send her to an outpatients unit. According to Ms Murphy, a doctor informed her the waiting list could be a few months but she fears that it could be 18 months.
Ms Murphy said: "I rang the consultant's clinic and it's roughly an 18 month waiting list. I have limited mobility and spend the majority of the day on the bed flat because of my spine and the pain. I do sit out on the chair but it hurts after five or six minutes. At times I get frustrated being stuck in here and use a wheelchair to go for a cigarette. I'm on a zimmer frame that I can't walk without because of the pain going down my leg and in my hip due to my back . They want to discharge me and I am and will continue to refuse to leave as I can't go home like this. My bedroom is in the attic, the toilet is not properly equipped and there is nobody at home full -time if I fall. It's an 18 month waiting list. I'm on more painkillers than a little and I'm afraid of the long term usage effects. I'm a person not a number."
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