Patient's complaint upheld

A woman who was left incontinent after an array of doctors took months to diagnose her symptoms has had her complaint against The Palms Medical Centre in Palmerston North upheld.

A Health and Disability Commissioner (HDC) report said the woman, referred to as Mrs A, first went to the centre in March 2007 after experiencing pain in her shoulder while gardening.

Over the next seven months, she visited the centre five more times, seeing a different doctor each time.

The pain spread to her left side, and she was suffering from weakness and numbness in both hands and shoulder, as well as urinary incontinence. An MRI scan found a cervical disc protruding into her spinal cord was responsible for the symptoms.

She underwent surgery on November 8, but continued to suffer neurological symptoms, including incontinence.

In the report, Mrs A said she wanted the centre to realise it could not fob people off.

"I have gone from a fit 43-year-old woman playing sport, etc, to a 43-year-old woman who is incontinent, numb from my left arm down to the rest of my side, hyporeflexia in my left leg.

"I had to change jobs and now have no career options as I couldn't physically do the job to its full capacity," she said.

"It has changed my whole life for the worse, financially, emotionally and physically."

In his findings, Health and Disability Commissioner Ron Paterson said Mrs A's experience was a graphic illustration of what happened when a patient attended a large franchise operation where multiple doctors provided episodic care but no single doctor took overall responsibility.

"One has to ask 'Is this as good as it gets?' In my view, if this is the face of modern primary medical care in New Zealand, it is not a pretty picture," he said.

The report concluded that the centre failed to provide Mrs A with reasonable services and skill, and failed to ensure continuity of care.

The report noted that the centre made several changes to its systems following Mrs A's case, including introducing a new protocol where invididual patients would have one provider at the centre responsible for their overall care.

- NZPA