31 Aug 2015

Woman's delay for cancer surgery 'totally unacceptable'

6:58 pm on 31 August 2015

The Health and Disability Commissioner has criticised how the Capital and Coast District Health Board treated a cancer patient who ended up dying from the disease.

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Photo: AFP

The 68-year-old woman was diagnosed with four urinary tract infections between June 2011 and February 2012.

Blood tests in April showed her kidney function was down, but further tests showed no infection. She returned to her GP a couple of months later to complain of blood in her urine, and was referred to a urologist at a public hospital.

Her GP also sent an urgent letter to the urology department, to warn them that her urine had tested positive for malignant cells.

The woman then underwent a CT scan which showed kidney cancer. The results were discussed by a team of doctors who decided to remove the kidney, and who also arranged for a further CT scan of the woman's chest.

The woman's daughter-in-law went with her to the urologist, and told the Commissioner they left with the impression that she would recover after surgery.

The urologist involved said she did not remember the woman, but looking back at her notes it was clear the woman's disease was serious - and she would not have talked this down during the appointment. The woman was then booked on the urgent surgery list.

However, the woman's surgery was processed as semi-urgent, and she ended up waiting 78 days for surgery. The CCDHB cannot explain why it took a month to refer the woman for the procedure.

The woman had the surgery in November. A team of urologists reviewed her previous scans three days before she had her kidney removed, but those scans were three months old.

Health and Disability Commissioner Anthony Hill.

Health and Disability Commissioner Anthony Hill. Photo: Supplied

The surgeons were not able to remove all of the cancer, and further scans after surgery showed the cancer had progressed and there were lumps in her chest cavity. She started chemotherapy and radiography, but later died in a hospice.

In his report, Commissioner Anthony Hill said the CCDHB was too slow in getting the woman to surgery.

He criticised the fact that the woman did not have another CT scan closer to her operation, and was not satisfied by the fact that the woman and her daughter-in-law left their consultation thinking everything would be fine after surgery.

He recommended the Capital and Coast District Health Board introduce a new surgical booking form and a tracking system for patients, and also wanted them to hire a new nurse co-ordinator in the urology department.

Mr Hill requested they report back on progress within three months time.

The Capital and Coast District Health Board has apologised to the woman's family.

Chief Medical Officer Dr Geoff Robinson said the board accepted the findings and had apologised to the woman's family.

He said it had carried out the commissioner's recommendations, including a new surgical booking system and employing more staff.