A PATIENT who was outraged when she was told she would have to wait five months to see a pain specialist is calling a public meeting to press for change.

Mary Hawgood, 67, from Durham, is in constant pain because of an inoperable back problem.

After surgeons told her it was too dangerous to operate, she tried to get an appointment at her local pain management unit at Dryburn Hospital.

"When they wrote back to me and said the waiting list was effectively five months I could not believe my eyes," said Mrs Hawgood, a mother-of-five.

She feels so strongly about the waits faced by chronically- ill patients that she has booked a room at County Hall in what could be the first step towards a new campaigning group.

"I am really serious about this because I am so shocked. I think it is disgraceful that people suffering chronic pain cannot be seen sooner on the NHS," said Mrs Hawgood.

While she is a Liberal Democrat member of Durham City Council, she stresses that her campaign is non-political.

Her efforts were praised by the UK-wide Patients' Association, which has called for a higher priority to be given to pain management services.

Ironically, Mrs Hawgood started the St Cuthbert's Hospice in Durham in 1982, where patients are given palliative care.

Because she is in such pain - "I only sleep about an hour a night" - she has decided, reluctantly, to see a pain specialist privately, in Newcastle next week.

But she feels strongly that the service should be improved so everyone can get speedy access to NHS pain management.

A spokesman for Dryburn Hospital said the wait for the pain management unit was about 22 weeks. At the end of February, 143 patients were waiting.

"Waiting times have been reduced recently and we have made representations for additional investment in the service," the spokesman said.

The unit includes a consultant in pain management, consultant clinical psychologist, physiotherapist, occupational therapist, pain management coordinator and an assistant psychologist.

For more information about the meeting, at 7pm in Committee Room One of County Hall, Durham City, on April 4, call 0191-386 4395.