A solo mother has been waiting almost two years for surgery at Rotorua Hospital, saying the “crippling” pain sometimes means she cannot care for her children.
The Taupō mother, who did not want to be named for medical privacy reasons, has been on the waitlist since April 2021 for laparoscopic surgery to help with pain caused by endometriosis.
She is on pain medication - however, if she is too late to take it, she has to “fight through the pain”, sometimes “crawling” to the medication in the house.
“I am a solo mother with two little boys who I am unable to care for when in this kind of pain.”
Data received under the Official Information Act from Te Whatu Ora - Health New Zealand shows the number of patients waiting for elective surgery in the Te Whatu Ora Lakes region has soared from 11 to 762 in just over five years.
In November 2022, 762 people were waiting for elective surgery, whereas in July 2017, just 11 people were waiting.
In the neighbouring Bay of Plenty region, the number of patients waiting for surgery at Tauranga Hospital had soared from 12 to almost 2000 in five years.
Te Whatu Ora says it appreciated the impact long wait times were having on patients and their whānau, and it was “working hard” to improve this.
The mother said her wait for surgery had been, at times, “extremely frustrating”.
She was initially told she would have surgery within eight weeks, but by then, Covid had started to “ramp up”.
In the meantime, her doctor put her on pain management, but “the pain is crippling, with no sign of it coming at all”.
“[It] just comes on full-swing to the point where I am literally in the fetal position.”
The full-time working mother said the pain sometimes happened while she was at work, which was “incredibly embarrassing”.
She would experience pain anywhere from once a month to once a fortnight. Additionally, her pain medication is not Government-funded and costs $60 for two months.
“It’s a lot of money when you don’t have much.”
Since 2021, she has had numerous scheduled dates for surgery, each of which had been postponed.
Another Taupō mother, Cherie, who only wanted to be known by her first name for medical privacy reasons, has been waiting a year for a hysterectomy at Rotorua Hospital.
The 37-year-old “self-sufficient single mum” said she has adenomyosis, which is “quite debilitating”.
“I’m in pain all the time,” the mother of two teenagers said.
She had her pre-operation appointment in August and was still waiting, with no scheduled date for surgery.
“In the meantime, I’m taking a myriad of pills, including high[ly potent] painkillers just to survive, every six hours for the last nine months now.”
Cherie said she worked “limited hours” and was “lucky” she had an understanding employer with regard to her health issues, allowing her to take time off.
“For the first time in my life, I had to get assistance from Work and Income to make sure I was able to make it through.
“A year is a long, long time to wait for a solution.”
Rotorua resident Richard, who only wanted to be known by his first name for medical privacy reasons, has been waiting one year for surgery at Rotorua Hospital for his gallbladder to be removed.
The 46-year-old beneficiary said he was in “limbo” as he had no scheduled date for surgery.
“It’s affected every part of my life. I’m currently unemployed and, as a result of my gallbladder, I’m unemployable, as sometimes my attacks can last for up to 20 hours or longer.”
He said gallbladder stones were blocking the ducting in his gallbladder, causing him to become “violently ill”.
“If I have a really bad attack … I’ll get back pain, vomiting, muscle cramps on my stomach - it’s really ugly.
“I feel useless as there really isn’t much I can do but wait. My life is been put on hold for the time being as a result of the issue my gallbladder is causing me.”
Rotorua MP Todd McClay said in the past seven months, he noticed the number of constituents getting in touch with his office about the issue had increased “quite dramatically”.
“For the waiting list to have blown out to more than 700 is appalling and deeply concerning. These are people who can’t get on with their lives and have no certainty of when they’ll get their operation.
“People are desperate.”
Last month, Te Whatu Ora Lakes hospital and specialty services interim lead Alan Wilson said it understood the frustrations of local people waiting for surgery.
“Our staff are doing all they can to deliver planned surgeries amid the well-known ongoing pressures on our healthcare system.”
Wilson said 1782 surgeries had been performed in the last three months in the Lakes region, including acute and planned care procedures.
“Our teams continue to focus on providing the best care they can to our community.”
“Any patient experiencing a change or deterioration in their condition since they were referred should go back to their GP for review. If they become acutely unwell, they should seek urgent medical attention by calling 111 or coming to the emergency department.”
Te Whatu Ora national director of hospital and specialist services, Fionnagh Dougan, said it appreciated the impact delays were having on patients and their whānau.
“We are working hard to put in place systems and processes so improvements to waiting times are made.”
Dougan said workforce shortages in key areas, Covid lockdowns, increased staff sickness and absences and continued pressure on hospitals had led to a reduced amount of planned care being delivered.
“These undelivered numbers then tip over into the next month, creating bulges in waitlists that are occurring at a higher rate than treatment can keep pace with. This trend is expected to continue in the coming months.”
Dougan said decisions to defer planned care were not taken lightly and were made in conjunction with clinical teams on the basis of “careful consideration of patient safety, the needs of the patient, their whānau and the resources available”.
Marked improvements would take time, and the backlog recovery was a “multi-year programme of work”.
She said Covid continued to “stretch capacity” as the country’s healthcare system continued to experience pressure due to “high levels of acute demand”.
“The complexity of patients’ needs has also increased, meaning acute demand prevents planned care programmes getting up to full speed.”
In addition to increasing additional surgical capacity, the Hospital and Specialist Services team was implementing recommendations from the Planned Care Taskforce.
Programmes were being developed with regional and hospital teams to benefit patients and the workforce and would be implemented this year. Initiatives included improving the surgical waitlist times.
Dougan said it had developed a comprehensive plan to support improved equity of access to planned care services and reduce waiting lists around the country once the burden of Covid on the health system started to decrease.
“The focus to date has been on initiatives to book and treat patients waiting more than 365 days for inpatient elective surgery, and prioritising Māori and Pacific people.”
“Significant progress” had been made in planned care interventions, which included inpatient surgical discharges, minor procedures and non-surgical interventions.
The number of interventions performed had risen from 23,495 in July 2022, to 128,681 in November 2022.
In Budget 2020, the Government allocated funding of $282.5 million over three years to drive an increase in the levels of planned care delivery to support the Covid backlog and to reduce waiting lists.
Test your brains with the Herald's morning quiz.