Michelle Dennison, 61, (centre) is months overdue for a pacemaker. She is with her mother, Ruth Sears, and son, Lee.
Michelle Dennison, 61, (centre) is months overdue for a pacemaker. She is with her mother, Ruth Sears, and son, Lee.
Michelle Dennison, 61, is months overdue for pacemaker surgery, causing severe shortness of breath.
Her husband Ross has terminal cancer; they worry about their son Lee, who has special needs.
Health NZ has apologised for the delay and scheduled a cardiologist appointment.
A Hamilton woman who suffers extreme shortness of breath due to heart failure is months overdue for pacemaker surgery.
Michelle Dennison, 61, becomes out of breath from even minimal exertion, such as cooking a meal, and struggles to sleep.
Her husband Ross has terminal cancer, and the couple are talking to a lawyer about what would happen to their 27-year-old son, Lee, who has special needs and cannot live alone, should they both die.
Dennison is one of hundreds of New Zealanders caught in delays for heart care, in both cardiology and cardiac surgery. The Heart Foundation warns the situation is unacceptable.
After being contacted by the Herald, Health NZ-Te Whatu Ora booked Dennison in to see a cardiologist next month.
It says, however, “the delay has no clinical risk to the patient’s health”.
Dennison went to her GP in August last year, after several months of attempting to ignore her worsening symptoms, including shortness of breath and fatigue.
The doctor ran tests, including an electrocardiogram (ECG), and told her she had serious heart failure, and needed to be driven to Waikato Hospital right away, where she would likely receive surgery to place a pacemaker.
A pacemaker is a small, battery-powered device that uses electrical pulses to help the heart beat at a normal rate and rhythm.
Dennison’s GP spoke to a cardiologist at the hospital and gave her copies of referral paperwork, she said. But when she and her husband arrived, they endured a nine-hour wait in the triage room of the A&E.
There are big delays for elective heart services. Photo / 123rf.com
When she was finally seen a doctor admitted her, due to concern over her vital signs and readings. She spent seven days in hospital, and eventually agreed to a doctor’s suggestion that she get the pacemaker fitted as an outpatient.
Dennison wrongly assumed this would be within 2 to 3 weeks (a timeframe discussed when she was admitted), but was later told it would in fact be 2 to 3 months.
It has now been about six months.
Dennison said she rang the hospital and was told to go to her GP, which she has done twice, but attempts to chase up her case led nowhere.
“It is not good. I am quite short of breath a lot of the time… even from just doing something like preparing a meal, and moving around the kitchen.
“It’s not a nice feeling. You try to pretend to the family that you are not as bad as you feel, in order to avoid worrying them.”
She worries for her family more than herself - her husband has recently been diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer, and has only 1 to 2 years to live. Their 27-year-old son has significant intellectual delays, requires daily assistance and will not be able to live on his own. Dennison also helps care for her mother, who has dementia and lives in a nearby aged care facility.
“She relies on me to take her out, to do her banking, generally take care of her and to be her voice.”
Dennison still works full-time in customer service for Sealed Air, a packaging company, and says she is lucky to have a very understanding manager and workplace.
Asked about her case, Health NZ’s group director operations Waikato, Stephanie Doe, told the Herald that, “we acknowledge this patient’s experience, and we recognise that it can be worrying for people waiting to see a clinician or receive treatment”.
“We apologise for this patient’s personal experience and the delays they have had. The team will be contacting the patient directly to discuss and further clarify,” Doe said.
“We can confirm our clinicians have reviewed the case and that the delay has no clinical risk to the patient’s health.
“As always, we encourage people to follow the advice of their clinicians, and if they have concerns or their condition changes, they should speak to their GP.
“In an emergency, patients should attend the emergency department or telephone 111. If patients and whānau have any questions about their own or the care of their family, they should contact us directly.”
Dennison contacted the Herald after reading a recent report that revealed more than half of patients awaiting cardiac surgery have waited too long.
There are also lengthy delays in cardiology. The backlogs largely affect those like Dennison who are in non-acute “urgency bands”, which patients are placed into according to their clinical priority.
Gisborne Hospital cardiologist Dr Gerry Devlin, the Heart Foundation’s medical director, told the Herald that those patients still had serious problems, and being delayed too long could mean certain treatment becomes impossible or less effective.
Current cardiology wait lists were “not acceptable”, Devlin said.
“We’ve got wait lists to access specialists, we’ve got wait lists to access diagnostic tests once you see a specialist.
“And then if you need surgery - you need stenting, or whatever - we’ve got wait lists that aren’t moving as quickly as any of us would like.”
