It’s like I’ve won the Lotto, says Maureen

MAUREEN WATSON felt like she’d won the Lotto when she heard her four-year wait for surgery was over.

The Tallaght woman, 45, had been suffering acute pain from an inflamed gall bladder while stranded on a seemingly endless hospital waiting list.

But this summer she had the distinction of being the first patient to benefit under the Government's Treatment Purchase Fund, aimed at cutting down hospital waiting lists.