Election 2023: What Bay of Plenty candidates say to a woman who waited nearly two years for surgery at Tauranga Hospital

The Bay of Plenty Times is asking Bay of Plenty election candidates what they and their party would do to help some of the local people who have shared their struggles and stories with our readers. Next up is Louise Roberts who waited almost two years for hip surgery at Tauranga Hospital.

Louise Roberts feels like “a totally different person” after getting a hip replacement at Tauranga Hospital.

But the Ōmokoroa mother says waiting almost two years for surgery is “absolutely disgraceful”.

While on the waitlist, Roberts told the Bay of Plenty Times in November she had reduced her work hours from full-time to part-time “because I just physically and mentally cannot cope”.

This had put “extra financial strain” on her family, Roberts said at the time.

Louise Roberts waited 20 months for a hip replacement at Tauranga Hospital. Photo / Alex Cairns

Speaking to the Bay of Plenty Times again this month, and ahead of the election, the 55-year-old said having surgery in June had made a “huge” difference.

“I can take my dog out for a walk now which I couldn’t do before.

“I don’t think I actually realised how much that pain was controlling my life. I was exhausted all the time because I wasn’t sleeping very well and now I’m sleeping better and I’m not in pain all the time. I’ve just got more energy.”

Roberts was referred for hip replacement surgery in December 2019. Due to Covid-19, she could not get a specialist appointment nor be put on the surgery waitlist until October 2021.

She waited 20 months - finally getting her hip replacement in June 2023.

In her view, waiting almost two years for surgery was “absolutely disgraceful”.

Roberts said she knew someone who was referred for a hip replacement and had the surgery done privately within five weeks.

“That, for me, probably made me madder than anything.”

She said the staff at Tauranga Hospital were “absolutely amazing” but there was “obviously a shortage of staff”.

In her view, “normally a shortage of staff is because they’re not getting paid enough”.

“There should be more competitive salaries for these top people.

“These people have trained so hard and they’ve got to where they are because they’ve put a lot of hard work in and we should be acknowledging that by paying them correctly.

“And if we were paying them correctly, we wouldn’t be losing them to other countries. And therefore, the waitlist would go down.”

Louise Roberts says waiting almost two years for surgery is "absolutely disgraceful". Photo / Alex Cairns

Roberts said apart from the “ridiculous” wait time, “I can only say good things”.

“My care was amazing, the aftercare has been amazing and I just feel like a totally different person.

“I feel like the old me. Whereas before I felt like a 90-year-old grandmother that was ready to lie down and give up.”

A Te Whatu Ora spokesperson said the government agency “cannot be drawn into comment on election matters or policy as that would not be appropriate”.

Bay of Plenty candidate responses

Cameron Luxton (Act)

Louise, the pain you had to live with shouldn’t be so familiar, but today, it’s the second story I’ve heard of delays causing pain and stress. This isn’t what we thought we’d get in our first-world country. So many factors contribute to the pressure on the healthcare system. We must remove the pressure on GP’s services which flow onto hospitals, by funding GP’s more and moving less complex jobs to other staff, recognise overseas professionals with comparable training, and make New Zealand an attractive option.

I hope your recovery is going well and you can spend more active time with your kids.

Matthew Macmillan (Green)

Kia ora Louise, having waited over two years for surgery myself, I understand how hard it can be mentally as well as physically. The Green party would immediately improve pay and conditions to attract and retain workers across the sector. We will advocate to increase the capacity for the training of more healthcare workers. Our Free Dental For All policy will alleviate hospitals from related health conditions. Above all though, we need to reduce the need for treatment by creating a healthier society. Our Basic Income Guarantee, Healthy Homes, Healthy Transport and Healthy Environment policies will ultimately lead to reduced patient numbers.

Kirsten Murfitt (New Zealand First)

I understand your frustration, as my husband with serious heart failure had to wait 45 minutes in the waiting room before being moved to a stretcher in the hallway. He was then rushed through to resuscitation once a doctor saw him. The staff are amazing, but the health system is failing many New Zealanders. New Zealand First is committed to reprioritising government expenditure, providing funding increases for primary health care, and reassigning wasted resources to urgently deal with hospitals and waiting lists. Funding Emergency Departments and fund specialist medical staff, so that our medico-patient ratios are first world again.

Tom Rutherford (National)

I’m sorry to hear of the almost two-year wait you endured. National will increase investment in health each year and we’ll make sure this investment is delivering frontline services. We’ll reintroduce health targets, including shorter stays in ED, faster cancer treatment, shorter wait times for both first specialist assessment and surgery. We’ll focus on attracting, training and retaining health workers. National will pay nurses’ and midwives’ student loan repayments up to $4,500 a year for the first five years , provided they remain working in their profession in New Zealand. National will establish a third medical school to deliver more doctors

Pare Taikato (Labour)

I’m sorry to hear about your recent experience Louise and hope you are recovering well. Labour remains committed to building a health system New Zealanders can be proud of. There’s more work to do and we’re making progress. We’re tackling waitlists, rebuilding hospitals and health infrastructure , and training and recruiting more doctors and nurses. We’re boosting our health workforce by increasing pay, creating 700 nursing places in 2024, increasing international recruitment allowing us to recruit 300 Senior Medical Officers, and increasing the number of doctors trained yearly, scaling up until we are training an extra 335 doctors every year from 2027.

Leighton Baker Party candidate Wendy Gillespie, Animal Justice Party candidate Caitlin Grattan and Independent candidate Taupo Wahed were also approached for comment.

Editor’s note: Submissions may have been edited

Megan Wilson is a health and general news reporter for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. She has been a journalist since 2021.