When John Murray from Anstruther suffered a stroke in May he lost the use of his arm and some speech.
John, 67, is determined to get back to full health as soon as possible.
Yet, almost three months on, he says he has not had any physiotherapy or received an appointment to help his rehabilitation.
Dad-of-two John and his family fear the delay will impact his overall recovery and long-term physical ability.
John explains: “I had a stroke on May 24 and was in Ninewells Hospital for three days. I saw a physio team on two of the days I was there.
“They asked me if I was interested in follow-up physio in St Andrews and I said yes.
“I’ve been waiting more than nine weeks. I’ve had no word, I have phoned to see what is happening and they’ve told me I’m on the list.
‘This type of injury should be treated quickly’
“I’m concerned because a stroke injury is a brain injury and it has to be acted on quickly for the brain to respond.
“It’s not like a muscle injury which can repair itself. It might be a case of by the time I get seen I’ve missed the boat for it to do any good.”
John continues: “I couldn’t speak after I had the stroke and the right hand side of my face dropped. There’s still not a lot of movement there.
“I lost the use of my right arm and hand. It has come back a bit but I do get a bit of pain in the arm.
“It would have been good to have professional advice and the correct exercises to help.”
While his speech has returned, John is disappointed that he’s yet to receive any appointment for physiotherapy.
“My GP has been in touch and the chest, heart and stroke nurse at Windygates has. But I’ve had no word about the physio.”
Online exercises
John, an avid fly fisherman, is keen to get back to being active.
“My walking is slightly affected and I go for a short walk each day but not much more.
“I’ve looked online for exercises to improve things but it is frustrating always looking at the letterbox waiting for the appointment to come.”
A spokesperson for the Fife Health and Social Care Partnership says: “Like a number of services, the waiting times for physiotherapy are currently longer than they were prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Many services across the NHS were halted for periods early in the pandemic to care for the significant increase in unwell patients who required treatment.
New initiatives
“Across a number of specialities, including physiotherapy, we are taking forward new initiatives to help us increase capacity with the aim of shortening the length of time patients wait to be seen.
“We are following national guidance to help us prioritise patients to ensure that those with the greatest clinical need can be seen at the earliest possible stage.”
Conversation