Director of Proceedings v Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora (Capital, Coast and Hutt Valley) [2025] NZHRRT 22
(27 June 2025)
The Director of Proceedings filed proceedings by consent against Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora (Capital, Coast and Hutt Valley) (“Health NZ”) in the Human Rights Review Tribunal (“the Tribunal”) regarding the care provided to Mr A.
In 2011 Mr A was diagnosed with keratoconus, a condition where the cornea thins and bulges outward into a cone shape. In 2017, Mr A received surgery on his right eye, and the same procedure on the left eye was planned for 2019.
On 22 July 2019, Mr A underwent surgery on his left eye under general anaesthetic. The surgery was a keratoplasty and corneal graft where the damaged or diseased parts of the cornea are replaced with donated corneal tissue. There were no intraoperative or postoperative complications.
The postoperative instructions indicate that Mr A was discharged the following day with a prescription and an outpatient appointment for 29 July 2019. Mr A’s mother, Ms B, told HDC that Mr A received a prescription for eyedrops but no paperwork advising the date of the follow-up appointment. Mr A was not given a discharge summary which would have outlined the postoperative medication instructions and the timeframe for his follow-up appointment. No pain relief or any verbal explanations around pain relief options were provided. The written information Mr A did receive was inaccurate, inconsistent, and outdated. Mr A was also in fact not booked in for the outpatient appointment.
Mr A was in serious pain within two days of discharge. He continued to feel unwell postoperatively, and his eye was discharging fluid. He repeatedly telephoned Wellington Hospital but was unable to speak to the Eye Clinic. After approximately two weeks with no response, the telephone operators transferred Mr A to the booking office to have a request for an appointment acknowledged. The booking clerk was a non-clinical staff member and did not appreciate the urgency required. An appointment was scheduled for 26 August 2019, five weeks after the initial date of surgery.
On 20 August 2019 Mr A was seen by a consultant ophthalmologist, Dr D, at a different hospital. Dr D diagnosed a left corneal graft rejection and consulted with Wellington Hospital to arrange the care Mr A required. Mr A was admitted to the Wellington Ophthalmology service on 21 August 2019 and underwent surgery to repair the damage to his left eye. On 22 August 2019 the ophthalmology registrar informed Mr A and Ms B that there was a poor prognosis for the eye and it might need to be removed. Unfortunately, while Mr A’s condition initially gradually improved, on 3 February 2020 he underwent surgery to have his left eye removed.
HDC found that Health NZ breached Right 4(1) of the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumer Rights (“the Code”). Health NZ acknowledged that several failings in its systems resulted in Mr A not receiving the expected standard of care in relation to follow-up and support after he was discharged. Accordingly, it accepts that it failed to provide services of an appropriate standard and breached Right 4(1) of the Code. Health NZ has made a number of changes to address the systems issues.
The Tribunal was satisfied that Health NZ failed in the care provided to Mr A and issued a declaration that it breached Right 4(1) of the Code.
The Tribunal’s full decision can be found at:
2025-NZHRRT-22-Director-of-Proceedings-v-Health-New-Zealand-Te-Whatu-Ora.pdf.