The stress of waiting for an op

Violet McCowatt's progress is slow. Picture / Martin Sykes

When Violet McCowatt's friends ask if she would like to go to a show, more often than not she declines. Every time a grandchild plays sport she hopes it is somewhere she can watch from the car.

The 74-year-old has been awaiting a knee replacement since September last year and walking anywhere is difficult. At one point making it up the two steps to her bedroom was impossible and she slept on the sofa and used a bucket as a toilet.

The Papakura woman still has no idea when, or even if, she will have the surgery after being removed from the waiting list this year.

"To me it's the stress of not knowing what's going on.

"All these pills I am popping must be costing the Government, plus every time I go to the doctor."

Mrs McCowatt, a member of the Grey Power Federation Board, tripped over a passion-fruit vine in April last year. ACC paid for the key-hole surgery she needed immediately but when her doctor said she would need a new knee ACC wouldn't pay because the problem was age-related.

In September Mrs McCowatt, who gets around with a crutch, was assessed by specialists at Middlemore's Browns Rd Super Clinic and told she qualified for a knee-replacement and was put on a waiting list.

"They told me to go home and wait, which I have been doing ever since.

"I have heard nothing else from them. I have just been waiting and waiting, taking more pain-killers," she said.

After inquiries by the Herald, Mrs McCowatt was told she had been removed from the waiting list and referred back to her GP for care.

Ten months after being told she met the criteria for surgery Mrs McCowatt is now experiencing problems with her right hip because she favours her left knee.

Asked if she believed the Labour Government had done a good job with hospital waiting lists, she says she doesn't know because she didn't have to use the system under National and has nothing to compare it with.