A mum-of-two who needs an urgent MRI scan for a 'possible brain tumour' claims she's been told she's too overweight.
Jackie Nulty has been suffering with excruciating migraines, dizziness and an inability to concentrate since the start of October, and was referred by her GP for a scan to check if her symptoms are due to a brain tumour, or another serious illness.
But the 33-year-old, from Audenshaw, claims she's been passed around local NHS services and seven weeks after first attending her doctor's surgery, she still hasn't had a scan.
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She claims after weeks of hassling her GP, she was referred for an MRI screening at a community clinic. But hours before her appointment, she claims she was told she is over the weight limit and would not be able to use the machine.
The mum says she's now been told she needs to be referred to a hospital to have the scan, but is still yet to receive an appointment.
Speaking to the M.E.N, she said: "It's been seven weeks and I'm still no closer to getting an appointment or diagnosis. I am struggling to even look after my children.
"I am terrified I could have a tumour or dementia. My husband is really stressed out and worried and my symptoms are getting worse. Sometimes I even struggle to follow conversation."
Jackie first visited her doctor on October 17 and claims she was told she required an urgent MRI scan to diagnose what was wrong.
"I’ve had migraines, dizziness and I’m feeling absolutely awful," she said. "I can’t walk for very long and I can’t concentrate. I was playing with my child’s train set and couldn’t even do that.
"The doctors said they would send me for a scan within two days. Two days later I didn’t get an appointment so phoned the doctors and they said it was a locum I spoke to and they followed the wrong procedures so I hadn’t been referred.
"They told me to go to A&E and ask for an MRI scan. When I got there they treated me like a time waster and said a normal doctor wouldn’t just send me to hospital for an MRI scan."
Jackie, who says her weight is due to 'emotional eating following a difficult childhood,' claims she was told to go home and take paracetamol. The following day, she went back to her doctors but claims she was again told to visit A&E - this time with a note.
"I have been to A&E three times and waited eight hours each time and still didn’t get an MRI scan," she said. "My doctor suggested I go to Salford Royal Hospital but they told me they couldn’t give me one. They gave me a CT scan which was clear but said I’d still need an urgent MRI scan.
"On November 1 I was finally told I had been referred for an appointment a local clinic on the 14th. They did a phone call first just to check I could have one.
"They were asking me what I weighed and when I told them they said it was over the limit for the community scanner and that I needed to have one at the hospital. I was so embarrassed and couldn’t believe my doctor didn’t know this before they referred me. I was just really humiliated."
Jackie claims her GP then tried to refer her to Wythenshawe Hospital but when she phoned them to ask when her appointment would be, she was told they didn't offer MRI scans.
"I finally got another appointment on November 21 but it was back at the Ashton Community Clinic which I know I can’t go to," she said. "I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
"I said to my GP do you just expect overweight people to die? I am not going to be able to lose four stone overnight and I don’t think I should have to. There are a lot of overweight people in this country and I want to give a voice to people like me."
According to the NHS, the maximum weight limit for a conventional MRI scan is 25 stone before specialist bariatric equipment is required. Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board have been approached for comment.
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