Published42 minutes agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, PacemakerBy Marie-Louise ConnollyBBC News NI health correspondent”Watching Covid patients say goodbye to their families via a Zoom call was difficult and extremely emotional.”Dr George Gardiner was an intensive care consultant at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast and treated the most critically ill in the pandemic. He says health staff who held a phone or iPad for patients and their loved ones witnessed “harrowing scenes” before a ventilator was turned off.This week the UK Covid inquiry arrives in Northern Ireland. Why decisions were taken about what happened in hospitals, care homes and how people were buried and who made those decisions will all be investigated.’Losing Mum and Dad to Covid still seems unreal’Politicians lack humanity, Covid daughter saysCovid warning as hospital admissions riseUK Covid inquiry in Northern Ireland On Tuesday, the UK Covid inquiry which is sitting in Belfast for three weeks will start hearing from the most senior politicians and health advisors in Northern Ireland about why decisions were taken and by whom. This is module 2c of the inquiry, which is focussing on decision-making and political governance.This module will investigate Northern Ireland specifically and will include the initial response, central government decision making, and political and civil service performance.It will also probe whether Northern Ireland’s political nuances had any affect on the effectiveness of the response.There were tensions between the political parties when senior Sinn Féin figures attended the funeral of ex-IRA leader Bobby Storey and when the DUP’s Edwin Poots, then minister for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, said coronavirus was more common in nationalist areas.Who will appear at the Covid inquiry in Northern Ireland?The hearings begin with opening statements and evidence from Covid-19 Bereaved Families and Disability Action. Core participants who have been named in advance include the former first ministers, Dame Arlene Foster and Paul Givan, and Michelle O’Neill, who was deputy first minster during the pandemic. Senior representatives from the departments of health, finance, the Executive Office, and the civil service will also be questioned. Specific names and when they will appear are released weekly.Other people appearing this week will be Eddie Lynch, the Commissioner for Older People, Sir David Sterling, former head of the Northern Ireland Civil Service, and Jayne Brady the current head of the NI Civil Service.Image source, PacemakerBereaved Families for Justice Northern Ireland Brenda Doherty, whose mum Ruth Burke was the fourth person to die in Northern Ireland with Covid-19 is among those leading the local bereaved Families for Justice Group. “Families were failed. We have always said this inquiry is about learning lessons so that nobody should go through again what we did. This is a living hell,” she said.”We had to meet my mum’s coffin at the cemetery gates. We weren’t allowed to touch it -we had to stand away from it and were told we could move closer once the coffin was in the hole.”Ms Doherty, who gave evidence at the Covid Inquiry in London, said she will judge the inquiry after it finishes its hearings in Northern Ireland. “There is already a lot of confidence lost in politicians,” she said. “I think this is their time to show that they can be open and honest and take ownership of the mistakes that were made because there were mistakes.Image source, Brenda Doherty”I don’t want to hear ‘I can’t recall’, or ‘I don’t remember’ because for me it shouldn’t be a matter of recalling – if you were making decisions that were impacting people’s lives there is bound to be paperwork somewhere and if you can’t find the paper work well then something is not right.” Speaking to BBC News NI, Ms Doherty said the inquiry needs to help people cope with loss. “We have all suffered loss – it is like somebody came and took them and for families who lost both parents it is like they have just vanished,” she said. “My sister says it is like somebody stole Mummy in the middle of the night because we didn’t get to see her when she died or in the coffin.”Analysis: An important three weeksThe next three weeks will be important for Northern Ireland. The UK Covid inquiry will be shining a light on the key decisions made by senior politicians and health officials. In March 2020, the Northern Ireland Executive had once again been rebooted.Relations between politicians and the state of the health and social care service were both fragile. While Northern Ireland fared comparatively better than the rest of the UK in terms of Covid deaths (5060), those families who did lose loved ones want and deserve answers. These hearings will scrutinise the political tensions that developed in the executive, certain headline events that caused political parties to publicly fall out and whether all of that impacted on how the public kept to the rules.Who is leading the Covid inquiry and how does it work?The Covid inquiry began on 28 June 2022 and is chaired by former judge Baroness Hallett who led the inquests into the 7 July London Bombings. Image source, PA MediaThe inquiry has already had public hearings on resilience and preparedness; the current module 2c hearings are examining core UK decision-making and political governance. Sitting in Belfast and focussing on what happened in Northern Ireland is significant as it means local politicians and health officials will be probed and the evidence they’ve provided to the inquiry, including WhatsApp messages and emails, will be questioned and shared publicly. When will the inquiry publish conclusions?Baroness Hallett said she intends to publish the report for the first area of work by early summer 2024.The inquiry is not expected to conclude until sometime in 2026.Public hearings for the third area of examination – the impact of the pandemic on healthcare systems across the UK – are expected to run for 10 weeks from autumn 2024. How can the public get involved? Anyone can share their experience through the inquiry’s Every Story Matters project.The Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice campaign group – which criticised the government’s handling of the pandemic – has urged the inquiry to ensure these voices are heard.Jennifer Currie’s mother June died in hospital in 2020 after contracting Covid while she was being treated for cellulitis. The family say the circumstances around their mother’s death “haunts them” as they were never informed that she was receiving end of life care. While some of the family had a brief visit on the day she died, Jennifer said they would have insisted staying in the hospital even in the car park to be close by.”When we went to leave, she said to us please don’t leave me I am going to die and that will stay with us forever. Had we had known that my mum was in end of life care – we would never have walked out of that hospital,” Jennifer said. It is hoped the inquiry will listen and learn from those who have provided stories and who are providing evidence. Dr Gardiner said he hoped that if there is another pandemic, lessons will be learned about how a twin track approach can operate within the health service where other patients with serious health conditions including cancer can continue with treatment. More on this storyFamily was told Covid would be ‘flash in the pan’Published18 July 2023What is the UK Covid inquiry and how does it work?Published3 days agoAlmost £8bn spent on NI’s response to Covid-19Published27 July 2023

Published33 minutes agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingBy Marie-Louise ConnollyBBC News NI health correspondent”I was frustrated, lonely and unhappy during lockdown.”That was the experience of Peter Livingstone during the pandemic, and he hopes the UK Covid-19 Inquiry will examine how people with learning disabilities coped.He was speaking during an event to mark the inquiry arriving in Northern Ireland next week.Peter, who is 35 and has disabilities, moved back to live with his parents during the pandemic.He said being isolated from his friends during lockdown was tough.”I was so lonely and when I had to go into hospital for treatment it depended on which matron was on if people were allowed in to visit me,” Peter said. Not being able to see family members was stressful and sad, he added.Peter hopes people with learning disabilities will be given a voice so lessons can be learned and views recorded for the future.What is the UK Covid inquiry and how does it work? The UK pandemic in numbersLISTEN: The Covid Inquiry PodcastSenior politicians, health officials and key decision makers who were charged with guiding Northern Ireland through the pandemic will appear before the UK Covid Inquiry from 30 April to give evidence. Secretary to the inquiry Ben Connah said he wanted local people to continue coming forward to tell their stories and help shape the final report’s recommendations.Speaking at the Ulster Museum, where an exhibition marks key moments of the pandemic, Mr Connah said the inquiry’s presence in NI was important.”The inquiry will be examining the core decision making in NI and hearing stories from members of the public to help the inquiry build a fuller picture of how the pandemic affected local people and the UK as a whole,” Mr Connah said. He said it was not too late for people to get in touch.Bereaved Families for Justice in Northern Ireland have said they are not satisfied with aspects of the inquiry and have called for Northern Ireland to have its own separate investigation. Mr Connah, who has met families on numerous occasions, said he had tried to reassure them that their stories and concerns were important and key to the inquiry’s overall findings. The UK Covid Inquiry was established in June 2022 to examine the UK’s response to and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and to learn lessons for the future. It was established as a direct result of campaigning from Covid Bereaved Families for Justice who had been calling for a wide-reaching statutory inquiry that would establish the truth about how so many people lost their lives and whether any deaths could have been prevented. Module 2c of the Inquiry will look at how the structures within NI responded and communicated with the UK government, decision-making, public health response, decisions made and by whom and how those decisions were informed. More on this storyWhat is the UK Covid inquiry and how does it work?Published31 JanuaryLack of ministers had ‘significant’ Covid impactPublished10 July 2023Stormont WhatsApp pandemic messages ‘wiped’Published12 December 2023Covid apology ‘worthless’, say bereaved familiesPublished6 December 2023

Published4 hours agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingThis video can not be playedTo play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.By Marie-Louise ConnollyBBC News NI health correspondentA pensioner given hospital treatment for pneumonia in his kitchen has described it as “tremendous”.Sean Daly, 78, had an electrocardiogram (ECG) and intravenous fluids, hooked up by a coat hanger, a day after being discharged from Daisy Hill Hospital.The retired barber said it was a bonus knowing he had helped free up a bed.The Southern Health Trust said its Acute Care at Home service had prevented almost 14,000 hospital admissions in 10 years.It has also enabled early discharge for almost 2,000 people, according to the trust.Mr Daly, who was a barber for 52 years, had back pain and was feeling “very unwell” about a week before he collapsed in February.He developed a temperature, and was taken by his family to Daisy Hill’s Emergency Department where he was admitted. Once stabilised, the following day the hospital asked about the possibility of home care. Care at home? Yes please”The nurse came and asked how I would feel about getting the same treatment at home.”I said yes please. When anyone gets the chance to go home – they go home,” he said.Mr Daly said having the medical team including a pharmacist “dropping in” felt like visits from family for which he was grateful. ‘More staff and resources needed’Dr Patricia McCaffrey, divisional medical director for older people services at the Southern Trust, said more staff and resources were needed to sustain and grow the home care service across Northern Ireland. “We need extra staff and more resources and a shift of resources from acute hospitals to the community,” Dr McCaffrey said. Acute care describes treatment delivered in a hospital environment by nurses, doctors, physiotherapists, and pharmacists. The home care service in the Southern Trust has been operating for 10 years, but according to Dr McCaffrey it is still not regarded an established model of care and has not been properly funded.Similar models, which allow more people to be treated at home, are being rolled out in three other health trusts, but not the Northern Trust. Specialist nurse, Catherine Havarn, said treating people like Mr Daly at home made sense because it took some pressure off the emergency department. Ms Havarn, who joined the Southern Trust team in 2017, makes around six home visits a day and would be in regular contact with specialists at Daisy Hill. She has been a nurse for almost 15 years, and said the number of older people in the area with more than one medical condition was increasing, putting pressure on general practice (GP) and emergency services.Ms Havarn said she did the same tests on Mr Daly as would have been done in a hospital ward but the risk of delirium and acquired hospital infection were reduced because he was at home. “We were in a couple of times a day when he was on an intravenous antibiotic,” she said. “We took his bloods, blood pressure, checked his medication and just kept a close eye on him.”We are very busy; we are covering the whole of the Southern Trust [area] and have had a large recruitment of staff – we find that older people prefer being looked after in their own house.” What is the Acute at Home Service?The consultant led community scheme supports patients mainly over the age of 65 aims to:Help people stay safe and as independent as possible at homeProvide acute medical care at homeAvoid unnecessary admission to hospitalEncourage quicker discharge once a patient is medically fit to go homeDespite the service, emergency departments continue to be under pressure, especially during winter. Dr McCaffrey said it was making difference but was not enough and that health trusts were constrained by resources. “This service is undoubtedly reducing some of the pressure on acute services but we are dealing with an increasing elderly population with a lot of core morbidities [illnesses] so demand is always increasing.”We need to be able to plan our services in advance, so we need more resources,” Dr McCaffrey added. More on this story12-hour A&E waits in winter ‘becoming normalised’Published15 FebruaryWhat could have been for healthcare in NI?Published28 December 2023Extra Stormont money ‘not enough for health issues’Published24 November 2023

Published22 hours agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingBy Marie-Louise ConnollyBBC News NI health correspondentWomen waiting too long for NHS gynaecological treatments end up having potentially avoidable major surgery, a retired teacher has said.Anne Donnelly, 43, had an operation for endometriosis two years ago and is awaiting physiotherapy.A major review of gynae services said health trusts need to re-prioritise those waiting over a year for surgery. The Department of Health said the report recognised “unacceptably high” waiting times.It added that the department would work to progress the recommendations, but that some will require “additional investment” which could impact delivery. ‘Debilitating pain restricted my life’The review found that more than 37,000 women were on hospital waiting lists in Northern Ireland with 5% of those waiting nearly three years for treatment.Anne Donnelly, from County Tyrone, was diagnosed with endometriosis at the age of 22, after years of attending various GPs, specialists and a psychologist.”I went from being a bubbly, active, outgoing 15-year-old to overnight having a debilitating pain that restricted my life and eventually led to me abandoning sport and Irish dancing. Endometriosis takes over every part of your life. “It is excruciatingly painful, it is like someone is sticking a knife into you; it takes the breath from you. I’m still shocked that we have to fight seven, eight, nine, 10 years before we are taken seriously,” Anne said. She said women feel “abandoned” by the NHS, with some having their bowels or womb removed as disease, such as hers, spreads.Image source, SDI ProductionsThe review of gynaecology was conducted by the Getting it Right First Time (GIRFT) team, an external organisation on behalf of the NHS.The team spent a week last year visiting the five Northern Ireland health and social care trusts.Dysmenorrhoea, endometriosis, incontinence, hysterectomy, prolapse and urinary tract infections are among the conditions covered by gynae services.Waiting lists for these conditions are the worst in Northern Ireland and also when compared to similar lists in other parts of the UK.The review recommends:The Department of Health should promote a single trust gynaecological patient tracking list.All five health trusts should “urgently develop an improvement strategy” for waiting lists. Planned surgery must become “resilient” so it does not “shut down” during the winter months. Outpatient procedures and day case gynae surgery should be focussed at Mater, Lagan Valley, Daisy Hill, Causeway, Omagh and South West Acute (SWAH) hospitals. Image source, PacemakerWhat have the trusts to do?The review makes recommendation for each health trust.Among Belfast’s 18 recommendations was that it should “urgently develop an improvement strategy to address the outpatient and surgical waiting lists and include the introduction of a surgical robotic programme, similar to what exists in England”. It added that an action plan should be developed within one month of receiving the report. Women in NI ‘not getting good deal”Life-changing’ drug offers endometriosis hopeWATCH: ‘Doctors would tell me it’s in my head’The Southern Health Trust was advised to open a dedicated female surgical ward for gynaecology, breast, and female urology patients with a minimum of two protected beds for each specialty.In relation to the Northern Trust, the report suggested promoting the Causeway Hospital’s gynaecology unit as the main elective day case hub. There were 17 recommendations for the Western Trust, including creating a dedicated gynaecology/women’s health unit and to commission an abortion MVA service. It also noted action was needed to resolve the “issue of Swah consultants leaving” for the Southern Trust. In the South Eastern Trust, the suggestions included a need to develop Rapid Access Gynaecology Clinic for 10 sessions per week. What of maternity services?Earlier this year, the Department of Health confirmed the decision to permanently move maternity services from Causeway to Antrim Area Hospital.The report suggested a similar consideration be made to maternity services at Swah and Daisy Hill, where “a similar move to centralise services would free up clinical time and space for other elective women’s services”.Anne Donnelly is now awaiting an MRI and physiotherapy treatment.She said in the past 30 years, little has changed around gynaecological services. Like most women in her position, she was told that painful periods were “normal”. “We are ignored and it’s not good enough anymore, I am still facing the same discrimination because I am a woman, I am still facing the same comments about periods and endometriosis,” Anne said.”How can a young woman, at 43 with three kids, a teacher be left abandoned by the NHS and the government because we didn’t have a government or leaders making decisions?” she said.More on this story’Appalling’ gynaecology waits under rapid reviewPublished31 May 2023Women lose challenge over hospital waiting listsPublished9 January 2023Surgery delay ‘damaged chances of having children’Published25 October 2022

Published24 minutes agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Getty ImagesBy Marie-Louise ConnollyBBC News NI health correspondentJunior doctors in Northern Ireland are to be balloted about strike action for the first time.The ballot will run for six weeks and could result in a 24-hour walk out.A newly qualified doctor in Northern Ireland earns £26,000 per year; in England the starting rate is over £33,000, and in Scotland it is £32,000. The Republic of Ireland’s pay grades operate differently, but junior doctors are paid a higher rate than their colleagues in Northern Ireland. In England, junior doctors started six days of strike action at 07:00 GMT on Wednesday in their dispute over pay.Northern Ireland’s Department of Health has said there is “no scope for a pay offer to be tabled for this year”.Dr Steven Montgomery, a paediatric junior doctor in the Southern Trust, called for “pay parity, better working conditions and to save the NHS”.”The main reason we need pay parity is so we stop haemorrhaging staff. We are losing staff to multiple countries, and these are highly skilled, qualified staff that we can’t afford to lose,” he said.”As a junior doctor you just feel burnt out. The feeling among staff is that morale is low the lowest I have ever seen since I have been working in the health care system.”‘Unprecedented action’Northern Ireland Junior Doctor Chair (NIJDC) Dr Fiona Griffin said the ballot is unprecedented among junior doctors in Northern Ireland.”Our health service cannot afford to lose these doctors, which is why we need to address the issues around pay urgently. This can be done with an immediate above-inflation pay rise and a commitment to full pay restoration in Northern Ireland,” she said.Dr Griffin called for the government to engage with NIJDC as a “matter of urgency”. She said failure to address pay in Northern Ireland now equates to a 30% reduction in 15 years. Image source, Getty ImagesDr Montgomery, who works as a senior registrar at Craigavon Area Hospital, said Northern Ireland has lost too many doctors to other countries which means wards are struggling every day to meet demand, and not just at winter time. Originally from Limavady, he qualified in 2017. He said he was reluctant to leave Northern Ireland but wants a better work-life balance with his partner who also works in the health service. On average, he works 48 hours a week but realistically it works out at approximately 55 hours.”Too few doctors mean it is a lot harder to get time off for annual leave even for things like weddings. “I have friends who struggled to get their own wedding day off even though they let the department know 18-24 months before their wedding,” Dr Montgomery said. Each year, Northern Ireland employs about 270 newly qualified doctors. Image source, Dr Steven MontgomeryIn 2023 there were 20 jobs that became vacant because the doctors chose to work outside Northern Ireland. Hospitals call on junior doctors to return to workAccording to health unions, the ongoing negativity is having an impact on attracting younger people to the profession. A potential walk-out would impact on waiting lists and patients waiting to be seen on wards with consultants expected to cover junior doctor roles. ‘Pressure on services’The BMA has stressed that strike action is a last resort and it would welcome any approach from the Northern Ireland secretary to talk to them. The union warned that if there is no progress they would have to escalate action to longer strikes. In a statement, the Department of Health said it “fully understands the scale of the frustration among health and care staff about pay”.”Unfortunately, the 2023/24 health budget provided no scope for a pay offer to be tabled for this year,” it added.”We recognise that this is not a sustainable position and remain committed to pursuing all avenues to help achieve a resolution.”The department respects the right of every individual to take industrial action. However, doing so at this time – with no route to a successful resolution currently available – would only further add to already severe pressures on services.”On Friday the Royal College of Nursing announced it would be taking strike action, along with unions representing some other health sectors, on 18 January.More on this storyWhat are junior doctors paid – and how much to settle?Published4 days ago

Published7 minutes agoSharecloseShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, GoogleBy Marie-Louise ConnollyBBC News NI Health CorrespondentA five-year-old girl has died from an illness linked to the bacterial infection strep A, BBC News NI understands.The Black Mountain Primary School pupil became severely ill last week and was treated at the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children. On Friday the Public Health Agency (PHA) sent a letter to parents of P1 to P3 children at the school.It said one of its pupils was diagnosed with a severe form of strep A. Children were asked to attend a clinic to be seen by a doctor and receive a preventative course of antibiotics. BBC News NI understands the girl had been treated in intensive care but passed away on Monday. On Monday the principal of Brackenagh West Primary School near Kilkeel in County down said dozens of pupils were suffering from strep A infections.The PHA is asking parents to be vigilant. BBC News NI understands the authorities are working closely with those schools that are affected. Black Mountain Primary is undergoing a deep clean.Community groups are also being contacted about affected children who may have used their facilities. What is strep A?Most strep A infections are mild – a sore throat or a skin infection that can be easily treated with antibiotics. But some people who catch it can get very sick.Some people develop scarlet fever, which causes a skin rash (that feels like sandpaper) and flu-like symptoms, including a high temperature.Figures show there were at least 104 cases of scarlet fever in Northern Ireland in November, up from 43 in October.Very rarely, strep A can cause something called invasive group A streptococcal infection or iGAS, which can be deadly.Strep A: Why it can be dangerous and what to knowInvasive disease happens when the bacteria get past your body’s immune defences.In the rest of the UK, eight children have died due to complications from strep A bacterial infections since September.Of those, seven were in England and the other was a seven-year-old in Wales.The government said that during a similar period in 2017-18 – the last “high season for iGAS infection” – there were four deaths in England.Warning signs of invasive disease include:fever (a high temperature above 38C)severe muscle achesUrgent, early medical help is essential.The UKHSA advises that anyone with a high fever, severe muscle aches, pain in one area of the body and unexplained vomiting or diarrhoea should seek medical help immediately.A strep A infection becomes dangerous when a child suddenly deteriorates, deputy chairperson of the Northern Ireland General Practitioners Committee Dr Frances O’Hagan said.In these cases children should be taken to A&E as quickly as possible.”The other thing to be aware of is that the treatment for strep A is an antibiotic called Penicillin V,” Dr O’Hagan said.”Penicillin V does not taste very nice so children will not like it, but it’s very important that you get it into your child. “And it’s a 10-day course, so it’s really important that you finish the 10 days.”Analysis: Cases are likely to riseParents need to be vigilant – that is the message from health officials and local doctors.While those looking after children may be nervous about this unfolding story, it is important to remember a majority of cases are mild.The UK is experiencing an outbreak because for two years, and during the pandemic, children didn’t mix and their systems are not immune to a number of different infections.There is a warning that the number of cases of both strep A and scarlet fever will rise over the coming weeks.It is highly contagious so the advice from experts is keep sick children at home.Parents of children who deteriorate quickly should seek urgent medical advice.What should parents do?As a parent, if you feel that your child seems seriously unwell, you should trust your own judgement. Contact your GP if:your child is getting worseyour child is feeding or eating much less than normalyour child has had a dry nappy for 12 hours or more or shows other signs of dehydrationyour baby is under three months old and has a temperature of 38°C, or is older than three months and has a temperature of 39°C or higheryour baby feels hotter than usual when you touch their back or chest, or feels sweatyyour child is very tired or irritableCall 999 or go to A&E if:your child is having difficulty breathing – you may notice grunting noises or their tummy sucking under their ribsthere are pauses when your child breathesyour child’s skin, tongue or lips are blueyour child is floppy and will not wake up or stay awakeMore on this storyStrep A: Why it can be dangerous and what to know3 days agoScarlet fever cluster found at County Down school12 hours agoStrep A death of eighth child confirmed14 hours ago

Published13 minutes agoSharecloseShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingThis video can not be playedTo play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.By Marie-Louise ConnollyBBC News NI Health CorrespondentAn endometriosis sufferer has said her reproductive organs are so damaged by a three-year delay for surgery, it has affected her ability to have children.Claire Nicholls, 29, has been in pain for years with the condition – which involves tissue similar to the lining of the womb growing elsewhere.Northern Ireland has the longest gynaecological waiting lists in the UK, according to a professional body.It is calling for two regional endometriosis centres.The Department of Health said it could not comment on individual cases but added that specialist centres would require investment.The report from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists found 36,900 women in Northern Ireland are on a gynaecology waiting list – a 42% increase since the start of the pandemic. Dr Hans Nagar, a consultant gynaecological surgeon at the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, said women need to be seen much quicker.He also said regional centres would house specialists under one roof, which would address the hospital waiting lists.’In my head’Ms Nicholls said she was passed from “pillar to post” and for 10 years, medical professionals did not seem to believe how much pain she was actually in. She has stage four endometriosis, which is the most severe and widespread.”The pain can be excruciating, at times I can’t get out of bed and I have also had to attend the emergency department,” she said.After opting to go private, her surgeon said he was unable to see many of her organs due to the amount of scarred tissue caused by the delay in surgery. “He told me the scarred tissue and adhesions were all around my organs… they couldn’t remove it all as it could have damaged other organs including my bladder – it was just too severe,” she said.One of her fallopian tubes is irreversibly damaged which she has been told will have a “huge impact” on her ability to have children. Ms Nicholls, who owns a beauty business, says she is angry and hurt, and she knows a lot of women in a similar position because they were also not listened to.”I was told the pain was in my head and that it was normal to experience this amount of pain – pain that was there almost every day and not just around my period,” she said.Endometriosis surgery waiting lists BBC News NI can reveal that 323 women are on endometriosis surgical waiting lists.Western Trust: 28 patients are waiting to have surgery – the longest wait is about three years Southern Trust: 37 patients – the longest wait is about three yearsBelfast Trust: 167 patients – the longest wait is four yearsNorthern Trust: 91 patients – the longest wait is more than three and a half yearsHowever, that is not the whole picture as the South Eastern Trust says it does not hold specific information about patients suffering from endometriosis.Ms Nicholls is on hormone replacement therapy to treat the pain and to try to protect her reproductive organs.This means she has been put into premature menopause.”To think I had to be induced into a state of menopause in order to help me is just shocking – I was told if I wanted to protect my fertility options I had no other option,” she said.What is endometriosis? It is where tissue like that in the lining of the womb grows elsewhere in the body – often around the reproductive organs, bowel and bladderLike the womb lining, the tissue builds up and bleeds every month, but with no way to escape the body, the blood is trapped, leading to inflammation, pain and formation of scar tissueFor some women there are no symptoms, but for others it is debilitating and can cause • chronic pelvic pain, painful sex, painful bowel and bladder movements, fatigue and difficulties getting pregnantThere is no cure but treatments can reduce symptomsThey include hormone treatment, pain relief and surgery – including hysterectomyEndo Warriors NI said women who had the disease have had “enough of being fobbed off” and too many are being “permanently damaged”.Hayley Scott, from the support group, said they were not being listened to by either medics or politicians, and the usual reply was that there was no budget. ‘Life-changing’ drug offers endometriosis hopeWATCH: ‘Doctors would tell me it’s in my head’The report from the Royal College – Left for Too Long – makes a number of recommendations including a shift in the way gynaecology is prioritised as a speciality across the health service. It says elective recovery must address the unequal growth of gynaecology waiting lists compared to other specialities and there should be a concentrated effort in each region to end the postcode lottery for gynaecology care. It also found waiting lists for elective gynaecology might result in fewer incidental diagnoses of suspected gynaecological cancers.In a statement, the Department of Health said its “direction of travel is to develop specialist endometriosis care” but it required investment.”Full accreditation requires regular theatre sessions which requires investment in specialist nursing staff and dedicated surgical resources,” it said.”We are unable to give confirmation of details regarding location or timescales at this time.”More on this storyEndometriosis: ‘Doctors would tell me it’s in my head’30 March’Life-changing’ drug offers endometriosis hope9 March 2021MPs to launch inquiry into endometriosis care6 October 2019Endometriosis sufferers ‘not getting good deal’7 October 2019