Hospital stayover a stretch for family

The family of a Blenheim toddler who had surgery at Nelson Hospital are frustrated they weren’t told they needed to stay in the city for a week.

The toddler’s grandmother, who didn’t want to be named, said she wanted to speak out in the hope other people wouldn’t have to face the same problem.

She said she travelled to Nelson with her husband and 2-yearold grandson on Thursday, July 5. The couple are raising the boy, who was booked in for a tonsillectomy the following day, which they were told required an overnight stay.

‘‘We presumed that we were going home on Saturday morning, but we found out 30 minutes before the surgery from the surgeon that we couldn’t go home.’’

The child’s age, the risk of bleeding and the fact they had travelled from Blenheim were cited as reasons they needed to remain close to the hospital.

The grandparents were given the choice of not having the operation and returning home, but if it went ahead they needed to stay in Nelson for a week after the toddler was discharged from hospital.

The grandmother said they had little choice, given how sick their grandson had been.

‘‘He had been coughing and choking until he was blue around the mouth. Every night he had to sleep in my bed because he can’t breathe.

‘‘They needed to come out, we knew that – we had no choice, we had to have it done.’’

The Nelson Marlborough District Health Board said it often went to great lengths to explain the requirements of operations to patients and families. It said it wanted to hear from the family directly so it could investigate, but if there had been a communication breakdown, it would apologise.

The grandmother said she wished she and her husband had been told about how long they needed to remain in Nelson before they left Blenheim. They had left two other children, aged 17 and 8, in Blenheim for what they thought was going to be a short stay.

‘‘We came prepared for the two days with our food and our two sets of clothes.

‘‘It’s horrendous. It has just caused a big nightmare.’’

She said the surgeon and the support of a hospital social worker had been wonderful, but she and her husband had been let down by poor communication.

After the toddler was discharged from hospital last Sunday, the family spent the night in Altrusa House on the hospital grounds, which cost $40 per night, but they were then told the room couldn’t accommodate three people and it wasn’t suitable for children.

A hospital social worker arranged for them to stay at the Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) house at no cost.

The woman said they were grateful for the roof over their heads, but they were financially stretched and had to use money

‘‘It’s horrendous. I just want to make sure no-one else faces this drama.’’

Toddler’s grandmother

set aside for bills to pay for food.

‘‘I went into the Salvation Army myself, which was really embarrassing, and I asked for some assistance.’’

She said it had been a really emotional time and she was in the process of making a formal complaint to the health board. ‘‘All we wanted was an apology.

‘‘It’s principle, really. They could have at least come to us and said, ‘Sorry, this should never have happened and we take full responsibility – is there anything that we can do to help you while you are stuck here in Nelson?’.

‘‘I just want to make sure noone else faces this drama.’’

Nelson Marlborough Health chief executive Peter Bramley said that if a communication breakdown had occurred, the DHB would apologise and work with the family to get a full picture of what had happened so it could see what changes needed to be made.

‘‘To do this, we need the family to contact us directly, to discuss their concerns or make a complaint so that we can then formally review what has happened.’’

Bramley said patients who had to travel between Blenheim and Nelson were eligible for support under the National Travel Assistance Scheme. They may be able to claim for the cost of private car use, public transport and accommodation.

‘‘Our social workers also go to great effort to work with families who travel outside of their home region and connect them to the support of agencies such as the Salvation Army and help them to find suitable accommodation,’’ he said.