Health services under fire in Dannevirke

Jim Austing and wife Vonny have concerns about Dannevirke's health services. Photo / Warren Buckland

A Dannevirke man who required urgent medical attention to a bleeding wound following an operation was turned away from both the Dannevirke Community Hospital and Barraud St Health Centre.

Jim Vercoe Austing, 77, had surgery to his leg to remove skin cancer on May 14 at the Kauri Medical Centre in Palmerston North and returned on Thursday to have the dressing changed. However, once home the wound started bleeding so his wife Vonny rang the Kauri centre to let them know what had happened.

"They said it would be good to go to our local hospital instead of going all the way back over to Palmerston North and to get hospital staff phone Kauri and they would fill them in on the details of Jim's surgery," Vonny said.

"Normally I would have got Jim in the car and driven him back over to Palmerston North but I broke my ankle and I'm wearing a moonboot so I had to find someone to take us to the community hospital. The receptionist told me I had to take my husband to the acute clinic at the health centre."

She said it was quite a mission having to push Jim in a wheelchair to the medical centre while on crutches.

Once at the medical centre the couple waited in reception while the receptionist checked with the acute clinic.

"The receptionist came back very apologetic but said they couldn't see Jim as they were fully booked all afternoon. She suggested we ring Kauri and arrange to have a district nurse to attend to the bleeding."

She said they then had to get the friends who had taken them to the Dannevirke hospital to take them back to the Kauri centre.

"Fortunately the doctor and nurse who operated on Jim were there and made the time for us. The doctor said it was fortunate that we had gone back to Palmerston North to get attention as the bleeding would not have stopped by itself."

She said she was prompted to contact Hawke's Bay Today because she was "hosed off" about the whole business. "It wouldn't have been so tough on me I if I hadn't been on crutches."

The pair had been patients with Kauri centre for almost two years after becoming disillusioned with the district's health services.

"I was quite unwell and had to wait three weeks for an appointment. On the day of the appointment a receptionist rang to say they had to cancel my appointment as the doctor had gone home sick. I told her I was quite unwell and she said she could make me an appointment in two weeks' time. So we signed up as patients at Kauri."

Jim said it was blessing that they did so. "The doctor discovered I had an arterial blockage and there was no pulse in my leg."

However, he acknowledged that there were problems in attracting doctors to Dannevirke and keeping them here.

"They seem to come here for six months then move on."

Barraud St Medical Centre group operations manager, Tania Chamberlain, said she was unable to comment because of patient privacy, but said she would investigate the matter.

While Jim and Vonny have mobility problems, they are normally a couple who help others with health issues. They have been volunteers on the Dannevirke health shuttle, helping to ferry patients to medical appointments in Palmerston North and Dannevirke for the past six years.

Vonny's accident that caused her broken ankle happened at the shuttle depot.

"We'd just finished washing the vehicle and over I went, I slipped on some loose gravel."