A Nelson woman whose bowel and ovaries were fused together with scar tissue from endometriosis says she was forced to go private after waiting 19 months for a phone call from Nelson hospital about a specialist appointment.
Aleisha Hosie, who was suffering severe pain and bleeding, said her family pitched in $500 for her to see a gynaecologist and she also paid to have a hysterectomy privately last year.
She said she only received a call from Nelson Hospital two weeks ago about a specialist appointment - 19 months after first seeking help from her GP.
Health New Zealand sent a crisis team to Nelson this week after several senior hospital doctors went public with their concerns about excessively long wait times, under staffing, and lives being put at risk.
Provisional data from Health NZ showed almost 500 patients on the Obstetrics and Gynaecology wait list have been waiting longer than the recommended four months for their first specialist appointment.
Hosie said she was initially told she would have an appointment within two months, but when she hadn't heard anything after five months, she phoned the Nelson gynaecology department,
"I was suffering quite severe pain all of the time, and it was getting to the point where it was unbearable, and I was told they were only seeing emergency cases or people who had been waiting longer than 365 days and basically I wouldn't be seen within a year."
She said she could not wait that long.
"I thought I can't wait another month, I need to see someone, and that's when I approached family and we decided we would fund it ourselves to see a private gynaecologist."
Hosie had private surgery a year after her diagnosis, and had still not heard from Nelson Hospital.
"Once I had my surgery, I found out I had quite severe endometriosis, which was never picked up through the public health system.
"My ovaries and uterus, my bowel, were all fused together by scar tissue which was causing the severe pain every month.
"So, I was quite shocked, I didn't know that. It had never been indicated to me that this could be a problem. Never indicated through a scan or a follow up."
Hosie said she finally received a phone call from Nelson Hospital two weeks ago.
"So that was 19 months after being told I would get the specialist appointment. And that's just for the first appointment, just for them to get the ball rolling.
"But when is the follow-up appointment, is it another year away? I just thought this was not on."
Health NZ spokesperson Martin Keogh said it acknowledged the impact delays had on patients like Hosie and their families, and apologised to those affected.
He said Health NZ was doing its best to improve wait times.
