A woman who found herself covered in rashes and blisters during her stay in a Christchurch managed isolation hotel is "really disappointed" in on-site health staff, who she claims took three days to do an in-person follow-up despite regular updates on her condition.
Valerie Hendriks has now made a formal complaint about her treatment at the Novotel Christchurch Airport, prompting an investigation by the Managed Isolation and Quarantine (MIQ) resolution team.
MIQ argues it was just two days from when they learned about the rash that she waited for a check-up, not three, and that she failed to send photos of the rash that would've helped them identify the seriousness of her condition.
But Hendriks disputes this, and accuses staff of being "forgetful" and failing to keep their word on visiting her. She says they should have been doing in-person checks on her daily to make sure she was okay.
'We got quite concerned'
The pain started for Hendriks on Monday, a week after she and her partner returned to New Zealand from Canada, where they had spent the last two years.
She felt a burning sensation on her neck and the left side of her body that later became a painful red mark on her upper left arm.
"We originally thought it could have been like a heat rash or something like that, because that's basically what it looked like, so we kind of didn't think much of it until the next day," she explained.
"But it kind of started to get bigger and we got quite concerned. The nurses come in and do a check every couple of days, so I showed them and they took photos of it.
"They were going to talk to the head nurse about it and said they were going to ring as soon as they knew anything about it."
Hendriks and her partner didn't hear anything more on Tuesday, however, which they thought was good news. But on Wednesday she checked her skin again and discovered the rash had spread from her arm to her left breast.
Feeling renewed concern, she rang the nurses again, who she was surprised to learn hadn't heard anything about it.
"Apparently the nurses from the day before had forgotten to tell the head nurse or the other nurses at all," Hendriks said.
One of the nurses told her it was something to keep an eye on and probably just an allergic reaction. But it worsened again that evening, spreading to her back and developing into small but painful fluid-filled blisters.
This prompted a call to the overnight nurse, who Hendriks says was really helpful. The nurse told her someone should be visiting her daily for a check-in and treatment, and organised for someone to visit her the following day.
She also offered to call her an emergency doctor if things got worse and had difficulty breathing. However her skin stabilised that night and Hendriks didn't feel it was necessary.
On Thursday, though, things deteriorated again. The rash had spread across more of Hendriks' arm and "basically half of my back", and more blisters had emerged - but there was still no visit from a nurse, despite Hendriks being assured there would be.
On Thursday night, amid fears things would continue to worsen, she called again and provided another update on just how bad things had gotten.
Hendriks says the nurse she spoke to confirmed she should've been visited earlier in the day by another member of the team. Realising she hadn't been, another routine check-up was scheduled.
Hendriks says when nurses did finally visit her on Friday morning, they were "really surprised" to see the scale of the red sores.
"One of the nurses that saw me on the [Tuesday] morning, when it kind of started to first rash, she was amazed at how much it had spread and how bad it had gotten," Hendriks told Newshub.
"So they took a lot of photos and apparently are going to talk to the head nurse and see what else they can do. No one has referred me to a doctor, but I'm getting to the point that I'm going to ring my GP because it's sore and irritated and doesn't seem to be getting better."
'No one would come and look'
While it's not clear what caused her skin problems, nurses have told her they believe it's an allergic reaction - though Hendriks doubts this, as she's never had allergies before.
She suspects it's actually a chemical reaction to her bed linen, because the rash emerged just after the linen was replaced and is isolated mainly to the left side of her body - the side she sleeps on.
Hendriks has sought information from laundry staff to get information on all the chemicals used to clean the linen in case her skin gets so bad she needs medical care and a skin scrape test to identify what's caused the rash.
But she's been left "really disappointed" by health staff on-site at the Novotel, noting she first raised the rash with them on Tuesday and wasn't followed up until three days later - despite regular complaints that it was getting worse.
"No one would come and actually look for themselves," she said. "The last time they had seen it since Tuesday was [Friday], and they seemed really amazed that it had gotten a lot worse."
She says it's particularly disappointing because the overnight nurse had told her someone should be checking in every day, and promised her a visit from a colleague on Thursday that was never forthcoming.
Hendriks said she wasn't initially referred to a doctor, hadn't received an offer for replacement bed linen and wasn't offered pain relief.
"I've been managing my own pain," she said, adding that she was relieved to have her own packet of Nurofen.
The cost of this pain relief has come out of her own pocket, as did her steroid cream and antihistamines - at a cost of $50 from the local pharmacy, including delivery - and she is now planning to spend more money to speak to her GP over the phone and get a diagnosis.
"I just hope they can sort something out because I honestly thought they would have - and I'd like an on-site doctor as well, not just nurses, because there's only so much a nurse could do," Hendriks said.
"Like I thought by now, when things like this occurred, they would have a doctor physically come in - but obviously not. I'm at the point where I'm actually going to call my own GP, send her photos and ask for her advice, because I haven't had the offer again of talking to a doctor.
"I did mention it, and they were just like, 'oh, we can send photos to your GP'. I said, 'that's fine, I have her contact information, do you want it?' and they were like 'no, we'll get it later'. I don't know if they'll get it later… they just seem quite forgetful."
MIQ responds
Brigadier Rose King, the joint head of MIQ, confirmed Hendriks had laid a formal complaint which would be investigated by its resolution team.
However she noted that some of Hendriks' claims did not line up with what she understood happened - particularly that she first told staff of her rash on Tuesday, and that she had sent photos to the nursing team.
"I have been advised by the health team that nurses were first alerted to Ms Hendriks' rash on 22 September [Wednesday] and offered to refer her to the facility's GP service, however this offer was declined," King said.
Hendriks says the staff who visited her on Tuesday forgot to pass on information on her rash, and was offered a visit by an emergency doctor if her symptoms worsened.
King says Hendriks also indicated she was going to send photos to the nursing team that were never received, but Hendriks said they already took photos when they did a health check on the Tuesday.
King said during the face-to-face health check on Friday, the nursing team viewed Hendriks' rash and took photos in case she was referred to the GP service.
"However she advised that she would prefer to use her own GP and she was given details of where her GP could send any prescriptions," she said.
"Nursing staff also offered to supply new bed sheets today, when Ms Hendriks first suggested the possible connection to her bed linen. This was also declined."
Hendriks says this is completely untrue, and she hasn't been contacted by housekeeping in any capacity since Thursday.
Brigadier King says she knows being in MIQ can be a distressing time for some, but insists staff "do their very best to support returnees".
"There are full-time health professionals available on site at all of our MIQ facilities, and as well as daily health checks, returnees are able to contact the on-site health and wellbeing teams 24/7 over the phone," she said.
"If people have any concerns they are encouraged to raise these with the facility staff to see whether the issues can be resolved."
