DHB says sorry over waits for urgent care
Waitemata¯ District Health Board has apologised to two patients and the family of another after losing their referral documents, causing them to wait months for urgent treatment.
One of the patients died after being diagnosed with thyroid cancer, another lost an eye and part of his skull after late treatment for a cyst under his eyebrow, and the third waited for more than a year for a follow-up cardiology appointment after suffering a cardiac arrest during a gallbladder operation.
Health and Disability Commissioner Anthony Hill has found the three cases are “concerning examples of information being available but not actioned within the WDHB system”. He ordered the board to apologise for all three cases, adopt a fully electronic patient referral system and adopt a clear procedure to ensure that referrals are actioned.
DHB chief medical officer Dr Andrew Brant said the board accepted all the recommendations by March this year — four and five years after the three patients were lost.
The first patient, Mr A, was referred to the DHB by his family doctor in April 2013 with a 1cm cyst under the skin of his right eyebrow.
A doctor graded the case as priority one, to be seen urgently.
Despite repeated follow-up calls from his family doctor, the man was not seen until September 25.
In December excising of his cancer required removing part of his skull and taking out his eye.
The second patient, Mr B, was sent by his family doctor with a mass over his right thyroid in June 2014.
The DHB said the referral was never received by its Patient Service Centre, which prioritises referrals. But the radiology service did get it and categorised it as “routine”, ordering an ultrasound for July 24.
He was never seen by the hospital until he went in to the emergency department on September 12 and was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. The report does not say that he died from the cancer, but Hill ordered the DHB to apologise to Mr B’s family.
The third patient, Ms C, suffered a cardiac arrest in November 2014 in a severe allergic reaction to an anaesthetic used for a gallbladder operation, but did not get a follow-up appointment until December 2015.
Brant said the DHB “extended its sincere apologies”.