Patient all dressed up but no place to go

A Tasman man has had his surgery postponed while he waited for his procedure in a hospital gown, twice.

Andrew, who declined to give his last name, has had his ankle surgery postponed three times now.

‘‘My left ankle has been shonky for years, it’s chronic arthritis,’’ he said. ‘‘I’m getting sick of limping after all these years.’’

Andrew has been waiting for surgery since November when it was determined that his previous surgery a year earlier hadn’t been successful. He was initially slated to have it near the end of May.

‘‘I went in and had all the prestuff at the hospital; I was all stripped off in the gown, ready to go.’’

However, the anaesthetist treating him had concerns about his health given his then-recent Covid19 infection over Anzac Weekend and told Andrew that they couldn’t go ahead with the surgery.

Andrew’s wife Sarah found it frustrating that the concern had only been raised at that late stage in the process rather than having the decision made earlier.

‘‘We could understand the thinking, but it was the lack of communication that was frustrating,’’ she said.

Andrew’s next surgery, scheduled a couple weeks later, was postponed just the day before. In his third attempt, near the end of June, Andrew made it all the way to a hospital gown again, but his procedure was then postponed because no orthopaedic beds were available.

‘‘I was gutted.’’ The couple aren’t angry with anyone, least of all the surgeon who, Sarah said, was trying to get the process over and done with for Andrew.

‘‘The surgeon’s clearly trying to do his best . . . We’re in no way frustrated with him.’’

But Sarah keeps organising time off from work to care for Andrew during his three-month recovery period, and the constant postponements keep forcing them to reorganise their plans.

‘‘It’s been pretty disruptive to our lives,’’ Andrew said.

‘‘If you’re like me, in the neverending waiting line, it doesn’t do a lot to clear your head.’’

Interim district director for Health New Zealand Nelson Marlborough, Lexie O’Shea, said the health system was currently under pressure nationwide due to increases in the number of cases of Covid-19, influenza and other winter illnesses combined with a large number of workforce vacancies.

‘‘We are working hard to manage the ongoing and considerable pressure on planned care delivery.’’

O’Shea said that while Nelson Marlborough was fortunate to have been able to undertake some planned care procedures, it was at a reduced and undesired level.

‘‘We apologise to those who have had their planned care deferred and we understand how hard this is for members of our community.

‘‘This isn’t a decision we have made lightly, but it is the way we can continue to deliver safe care to those who are very unwell.’’

Acute surgeries, which include cardiac and cancer surgeries, are the agency’s top priorities, with planned care procedures, operations that pose no major risk to life such as hip and knee replacements, being relegated until there’s an opening.

‘‘Cases may be postponed for a variety of reasons, for example staff and/or patient sickness, planned care patients having positive Covid19 tests, and unfilled vacancies,’’ O’Shea said. ‘‘Ongoing high occupancy rates for acute patients also impact our capacity for delivery.’’

Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air.