Māori health campaigners are upset but not surprised by the woefully inadequate treatment of a Māori patient at Whanganui Hospital which ultimately led to his death.
A doctor at the hospital thought the man was intoxicated, when he was, in fact, suffering from an ear infection that eventually killed him.
He had turned up to the hospital emergency department five times over two months with symptoms.
The Health and Disability Commission says staff failed to do enough to investigate the extent of the disease and whether the man had developed complications.
Te Kōhao Health tumuaki Lady Tureiti Moxon spoke to Corin Dann.
