The situation for arthritis sufferers has never been so bad in the country, with the shortage of rheumatologists now at "crisis point", according to Arthritis Ireland.

"Ireland has by far the lowest number of rheumatologists per head of population in Europe, and that's not just in the EU, " said the organisation's chief executive, John Church. "There are huge areas of the country that have just one rheumatologist for every 400,000 people. In the west of Ireland, we have people waiting four years and some waiting seven whole years just to see a consultant."

One in six Irish people will develop arthritis at some stage in their lives, but medical advances in recent years have meant the onset of rheumatoid and other types of inflammatory arthritis can be stopped and sufferers can live pain-free lives.

However, diagnosis and treatment are key to this and GPs are not equipped to treat arthritis patients adequately. Arthritis Ireland is calling for 26 rheumatologists to be appointed over the next few years.

"We have heard reports of patients developing suicidal tendencies because they are waiting so long with incredible pain and fatigue, " said Church. "People are borrowing money to go private and to pay for joint replacement operations because the public service is not there for them.

It's an incredibly frustrating situation."

Arthritis among children has become increasingly common, but there is only one paediatric rheumatologist to serve the entire country.

Susan O'Connor, from Clondalkin, Dublin, spent five years trying to get her son James, 13, diagnosed after he developed severe pains in his legs at the age of five.

"He used to wake up screaming in pain and no one in the children's hospitals knew what was wrong with him, " she recalled. "We took him to a private consultant who said he just had bandy legs.

"Finally, two years ago, he was diagnosed with arthritis.

A simple blood test was all it took and we wish it could have been recognised sooner, " she said.

James's diagnosis was "incredibly hard to come to terms with", said O'Connor, who had never heard of juvenile arthritis. But with the help of the juvenile branch of Arthritis Ireland, James has met other teenagers with the same condition and has received help on how to look after his medication and be more independent.

"Dr Orla Killeen [paediatric rheumatologist] is doing fantastic work for teenagers, " said O'Connor. "We need more consultants like that in the country."

There will be a fundraiser for the Juvenile Arthritis Branch in the Kestrel Pub, Walkinstown, Dublin, on Thursday at 8pm.

Juvenile Arthritis helpline:

087-2195088