A young woman claims she has been "driven below the poverty line" and resorted to using food banks due to major delays in her NHS treatment. Lily Jones, from Splott, Cardiff, said her life has been on hold for nearly a year as no-one can find out why she is suffering such awful stomach pain.
The 23-year-old said she went to A&E at the University Hospital of Wales (UHW) last October where she spent 12 hours in the waiting area in agony "curled up in a chair" surrounded by dozens of other unwell patients. She claimed she was discharged home with painkillers for a suspected ruptured ovarian cyst caused by her polycystic ovary syndrome.
However, days later she was back in A&E where she waited a further 10 hours before being told by a different doctor that she may have a urinary tract infection. The following week Lily said she was admitted onto a ward at UHW for three days and given an ultrasound scan which came back clear.
