While complaints about lengthy health service waiting lists are nothing new, what can be said with certainty is that in times of financial constraint we are unlikely to see the situation improving.
It must be recognised there is much in the health service that works very well. As the First Minister can testify, someone suffering a heart attack in Belfast will receive fast and effective treatment and be out of hospital within a few days.
Of course, in many such circumstances, a rapid response is crucial and can make the difference between life and death.
There are lots of patients suffering health problems that are not life-threatening and therefore not treated with the same level of urgency as a cardiac arrest and people understand that situation.
However, there are patients in severe pain that is having a serious impact on their quality of life and while they do not expect to be admitted to hospital right away, equally they should not face unacceptable delays in receiving treatment.
Orthopaedic services is just one area where patients have to wait intolerably long periods for an operation that will transform their lives for the better.
Someone needing a hip replacement could be waiting 18 months, which is a very long time to be left in pain and with limited mobility.
In the past money was found to pay private firms to carry out hip and knee operations.
That has stopped for now and there is no sign of such contracts resuming so patients are facing longer waits for treatment.
An ageing population means demand for orthopaedic and other services is increasing.
So far, the much vaunted Transforming Your Care initiative has not transformed anything.
However, people whose lives are blighted by pain deserve to know what is being done to provide the care they need within a timely period.
