'I woke from surgery to find it hadn't been done'
Kelly O'Shea says she's "lost faith" in women's health after paying £20k for treatment she needed.
By BBC News
Kelly O’Shea says she has “lost faith” in women’s healthcare after waking from operations to discover the endometriosis treatment she needed had not been carried out.
The 32-year-old, who lives with chronic pain, said she had been in daily pain for about three and a half years. Her symptoms began when she was a teenager.
Kelly’s endometriosis also affects her bowel, meaning she needs bowel and bladder specialists alongside endometriosis specialists during surgery.
Following one operation, she said she was woken about 45 minutes later and told the bowel surgeon had not been available. As a result, the endometriosis was left untreated.
On another occasion, her surgery was stopped because the theatre was needed for an urgent case.
Kelly said she had been promised the full specialist team would be present and that the procedure would relieve her pain.
She told the BBC: “It’s always the same excuse – they weren’t available, or they ran out of surgery time.”
Repeated operations have also left her concerned about increasing scar tissue.
Kelly, who works in healthcare, said she had experienced good care elsewhere in the NHS but felt women’s health was “completely broken”.
After becoming frustrated and desperate, she said she felt she had no alternative but to pay £20,000 for the treatment she needed.
There had also been discussions about transferring her care to Bristol. She was later told that one of the other specialist centres in Wales would treat her, although she said the wait could be up to two years depending on clinical need.
“I’ve put so much on hold, I just want my life back,” she said.