Siobhan Edgar underwent knee replacement surgery in January 2024 after spending more than seven years on a waiting list.
The health worker from County Armagh said she could have paid to go private, but felt it would have been “creating a two-tier system”.
Siobhan said she was originally told she would be waiting 15 months for surgery.
“By 2022 it was really painful, I couldn’t work, it was affecting every aspect of my life.
“I couldn’t go up and down stairs, it was giving way all the time, I had several falls.”
Siobhan said had the Waiting List Reimbursement Scheme, external been available, she would “have had to consider the cost implications”.
“Not only would I have been paying for the knee, I would have to pay for somebody to come with me and their accommodation and their costs in order to help me back again,” she said.
Siobhan said while her knee is much better, she believes the long wait for surgery resulted in a poorer outcome.
“I think the recovery would have been quicker, because the surgery would have been quicker,” she said.
