The Health and Disability Commissioner is investigating the case, which was reported briefly last year by the DHB as a 'serious and sentinel event'.
In May last year, Mrs Partridge underwent a thermal ablation - a internal gynecological procedure. Four minutes into the procedure the intrauterine balloon containing a saline solution, heated to 86C, burst inside her.
The hot liquid spilled under pressure internally and around her pelvic area, coming out with enough force to splash the surgeon in the face.
Mrs Partridge was under general anaesthetic during the procedure but felt the pain as soon as she regained consciousness.
"I was in pain right from the very start."
She said she was left for five days with no internal treatment.
The DHB's own root cause analysis report says "immediate cooling measures were not undertaken".
At the end of the procedure, staff noted evidence of burns and scalding. It was subsequently discovered that she had "severe burns to her vagina and perineum".
Theatre staff had "underestimated" how much of the heated saline had spilled.
A hospital report said the surgical method had been used on the West Coast since 2004 without incident. The staff were properly trained, and testing of the machine found no faults. However, the report also recommended the thermal ablation system be permanently removed from the hospital.
Mrs Partridge and her husband Scott took legal advice before going public, and are limited in what they can say.
But they have one clear message: "Staff should be stood down while the Health and Disability Commissioner is investigating."
Mr Partridge has lost his job due to having to take time off work to look after their young children and his wife.
"With common sense and basic first aid, life would be so much different now," Mrs Partridge told the Greymouth Star.
West Coast DHB chief executive David Meates said the incident was the result of "catastrophic equipment failure".
The procedure was no longer used at Grey Base Hospital, and the board had apologised to Mrs Partridge.
The incident was reported to Medsafe and the Health Quality and Safety Commission, he said.
Asked if there had been any delay in treating her burns, he said third-degree burns did not present themselves immediately.
The case would be thoroughly investigated by the Health and Disability Commissioner.
Mr Meates said the hospital had not been able to ascertain why the balloon failed in the first place. "It was not something people thought possible to occur," he said.
The liquid should have been extracted by the machine.
He said the DHB would comply with any recommendations and lessons from the Health and Disability Commissioner, saying it was important after any serious event that the board did not bury its head in the sand.
An improved procedure for the management of burns had since been implemented at Greymouth.
Asked about standing staff down during the inquiry, Mr Meates reiterated that it was a catastrophic equipment failure and he did not want to make a knee-jerk reaction. Hospital staff were "competent and capable".
The doctor who treated Mrs Partridge had provided "excellent service" and this was the first serious incident involving that doctor.
Grey Base still does thermal ablations, but not the balloon method.
