His partner, Barbra Harding, said they sent a request about four weeks ago for Thompson s records from 2015 to 2021. He was then told he could pick them up from the DHB-owned and operated health centre, and would need to present two forms of identification.
Supplied Harding and Thompson went to pick the records up on March 3. “The receptionist just handed him the envelope, and we walked out . no questions asked, no ID checked. “He could have been anybody picking up someone else s confidential medical files,” she said. The files, which were in a sealed envelope, only dated back to 2018 and included another patients’ confidential medical information.
A West Coast patient died last year because hospital staff failed to realise the person s condition had deteriorated and did not transfer them in time to a tertiary-level hospital.
Te Nikau Hospital & Health Centre in Greymouth.
Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
It was one of five serious adverse events reported by the West Coast District Health Board for the 2019-20 year and the only one leading to the death of a patient.
Serious adverse events are those which result in significant additional treatment, major loss of function, are life threatening or lead to an unexpected death. DHBs around the country must report such incidents to the Health Quality and Safety Commission and review them with the aim of avoiding repeats.
Te Kāea
Ngāi Tahu, the richest iwi in the country, is now worth $1.65 billion following the release of its annual report in October 2018. The figure is an increase of nearly $200m from the previous year. (Video from October 2018)
JOANNE NAISH discovers how West Coast rūnanga ensured Māori had a voice on all four of the region s councils. Gaining representation for Māori was not an easy task – for Francois Tumahai it took perseverance and standing up to racism. “It was just me being a bull around the district until they listened. It just takes time for people to understand,” he says.
Is rural generalism best for the Coast?
In recent weeks, various medics and their union have - unusually for the profession - aired their views in this paper on the use of rural generalists , a new breed of doctor increasingly being employed on the West Coast to work both in hospitals and at GP clinics.
Te Nikau Hospital & Health Centre, Greymouth.
Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
For the West Coast District Health Board, rural generalists or rural health specialists, as they re also known, are a godsend: the answer to the region s perennial difficulties in attracting specialists and GPs. But the senior doctors union, the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, has warned of their potential to displace more highly-trained doctors, and ultimately reduce West Coast residents access to that level of care. What is the community supposed to make of this? What exactly are rural generalists and how safe are people in their hands?