The Health and Disability Commissioner is slamming a district health board that allowed a six-year-old boy's brain tumour to go unnoticed for half a year - despite having issues with his vision.
Deputy commissioner Vanessa Caldwell said the boy was forced to wait for a CT scan despite two referrals to the DHB from separate GPs in 2019 due to his worsening eye symptoms.
After six months elapsed and still, no appointment was received, the boy's mother sought private care.
"The boy's mother subsequently took him to a private ophthalmologist, who arranged for him to have an urgent CT head scan which revealed a solid mass lesion in the back of his brain," the Health and Disability Commissioner (HDC) said in a statement.
"This was subsequently removed and found to be benign."
'It is clear there are still systems issues'
In her report on the case released on Monday, Dr Caldwell slammed the wait time the boy experienced - saying the DHB's care was below acceptable standards across. The DHB was not named in the report to protect privacy.
"While I acknowledge that demand for this service exceeds capacity, the key concerns in this case also relate to the way in which the service is run," Dr Caldwell said.
She believed multiple issues contributed to the delay, including wrong grading of the referrals and a missing eligibility check on the original referral.
"It is concerning that in order to receive treatment within a reasonable timeframe, the boy's family had to seek care privately," she said.
Dr Caldwell said problems at this particular DHB existed before this case.
"This is not the first time HDC has investigated matters relating to delays in the DHB's ophthalmology services that have impacted negatively on a consumer.
"It is concerning that, despite changes made, we continue to see negative impacts on consumers because of delays in the service. It is clear there are still systems issues at the DHB which need to be addressed."
Dr Caldwell said the delays were unacceptable.
"HDC wrote to the Ministry of Health to raise concerns about the DHB's ophthalmology service and they have been working closely with the DHB to improve waiting times for care."
In her report, Dr Caldwell said she believed the DHB's ophthalmology system was flawed and proper guidelines to support the practice weren't in place.
The Ministry of Health says the aim for people "with a high suspicion of cancer" is for them to receive their first treatment within 62 days.
Dr Caldwell recommended the DHB provide the HDC with an independent evaluation of its ophthalmology systems, as well as a random audit of referrals over a three-month period to make sure they have been graded properly.
"The Deputy Commissioner recommended that the orthoptist undertake further training through the DHB on the new grading guidelines," the report said.
