The Health and Disability Commissioner has found a doctor failed to provide reasonable care to a patient with a hand injury, who has been left with permanent damage.
The 39-year-old woman injured her left index finger and thumb and now has arthritis and limited function in her finger.
Her injury was reviewed by a doctor five times at a medical centre's orthopaedic clinic.
She was referred to a physiotherapist but not an orthopaedic specialist.
The physiotherapist wrote to the doctor recommending she see a specialist, but this didn't happen until the woman was referred by her regular GP.
The Commissioner found the clinic's doctor failed to recognise the severity of her injury and did not provide services with reasonable care.
The doctor is no longer practising but was required to apologise to the woman.
