Vicki Letele was released early from prison due to cancer. Photo / File
Vicki Letele was released early from prison due to cancer. Photo / File
The family of an ex-inmate and cancer sufferer who received inadequate care from Corrections are considering legal options to ensure nobody else suffers the same fate.
In 2016 Vicki Letele was sent to the Auckland Region Women's Corrections Facility, in Wiri, where she told staff she had been diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome some months before.
Soon after, she developed more serious symptoms, including a burning throat, nausea, and high levels of pain.
It was about six months before she was seen in person by a doctor, and shortly after she was admitted to Middlemore Hospital where she was diagnosed with gastric cancer.
She died in 2017 after being released from prison on compassionate grounds following a high-profile public campaign.
On Monday, a report by the Health and Disability Commission (HDC) found the Department of Corrections had failed to provide adequate care to Letele.
Vicki Letele hugged by family after she was released from prison due to her terminal cancer in November 2016. Photo / File
Letele's uncle Ula told the Herald the report validated their view Corrections had provided a "shocking" lack of care.
"If you and I are sick generally we have access to care in 12 to 24 hours, for Vicki it took six months, and by that stage the cancer was too advanced.
"Even though it was terminal, she didn't receive the care she needed. If she had, and the cancer was picked up earlier, she may have lived longer or even be saved, but she was never given the chance."
Letele was survived by her partner Leah and their three children.
Ula said they were waiting on a Human Rights Commission report into Letele's care, and once that was finished would look at all the issues and legal options.
"It is not so much a question of money, but the consequences of Corrections not being geared up to deal with these illnesses properly.
"Improvements are needed - no human being should be treated with a lack of dignity and respect."
Letele was sent to prison in 2016 for 10 offences of mortgage fraud that netted $500,000.
On her arrival she told staff she had been diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome some months before.
Four months later Letele reported a burning throat and sore right ear, that she was unable to hold down food and that she was very light-headed and feeling weak. She also told a nurse who saw her that sometimes she woke up with acid in her mouth.
This information was relayed to the prison's medical officer who prescribed reflux drug, Losec.
A couple of weeks later the doctor, who still had not seen the patient, prescribed Letele Mylanta for heartburn and increased her dose of Losec.
Another couple of weeks on, the doctor finally saw Letele. He prescribed ranitidine, which decreases stomach acid production.
Vicki Letele hugged by brother Dave after she arrived home in November 2016. Photo / File
Letele continued to report reflux symptoms and three weeks after seeing the doctor arrived at a walk-in clinic held by the nurse. She was given different medication but returned to the clinic a couple of days later.
She was seen by a different doctor who suspected an inner-ear disorder and gave her medication to treat the nausea.
The next day she told a nurse she was vomiting frequently and the vomit contained black matter. She was scheduled for a review by nurses the next day.
By that stage she was in a wheelchair and described her pain as "10/10". Her oxygen saturation level was low, and her temperature was low.
She was sent to the emergency department at a public hospital where she was diagnosed with advanced gastric cancer causing near complete obstruction of the outlet to her stomach.
The Parole Board originally refused to release Letele on compassionate grounds, but a campaign that began on Facebook quickly gathered steam.
The Prime Minister at the time, Sir John Key, weighed in, and 12,0000 people signed a petition calling for her release.
A second application was successful in November, with the Parole Board stating she was "seriously ill and is unlikely to recover". She was expected to live for less than five months.
Letele died the following May.
Following the HDC report's release, Department of Corrections national commissioner Rachel Leota said they accepted the findings that they failed in their responsibility to ensure that Letele received appropriate health services, and that it breached the code of Health and Disability Services Consumers Rights.
"On behalf of Corrections, I am sorry that we failed to deliver the appropriate standard of health services, which resulted in this woman's unnecessary discomfort and distress.
"We have been in touch with the patient's family with a view to meeting with them face to face to apologise for the distress caused to them."
Deputy Health and Disability Commissioner Kevin Allan referred Corrections to the Director of Proceedings, the most severe recommendation he could make.
Allan was critical of the initial doctor's lack of contact with the woman when prescribing medication, or increasing doses.
But he found the second doctor breached the code by failing to take into account her history or perform an appropriate examination.
Allan said the nurse's response to reports of black vomit was seriously deficient and lacked the required urgency.
He said Corrections failed in its responsibility to ensure she received services of an appropriate standard.
Allan recommended the doctor, nurse and the Department of Corrections all apologise to Letele's family and referred Corrections to the Director of Proceedings for a further review.
In response, Corrections provided evidence of staff training and hired an independent nursing educator to provide nursing staff with education on commonly presenting health conditions. Corrections also commissioned an independent review.
