Clem Jones and Rex Jones of My Chauffeur say it's quicker to go to the Philippines for Rex's hip surgery than wait for treatment here. Photo / Warren Buckland
Clem Jones and Rex Jones of My Chauffeur say it's quicker to go to the Philippines for Rex's hip surgery than wait for treatment here. Photo / Warren Buckland
Rex Jones’ warm smile is known to many who have visited Hawke’s Bay.
The 73-year-old and his wife Clem run local chauffeur company My Chauffeur, and since 2016 he’s picked up everyone from the families of A-list actors and famous politicians, to school groups and farmers.
But a “debilitating” hipcondition is preventing Rex from doing the job he loves to the fullest.
Thoughts of a gruelling six-month wait to get an appointment to be put on a waiting list for surgery in Hawke’s Bay have prompted Rex to seek treatment in the Philippines instead.
“We’ll be back and fixed before I even get an appointment to have an assessment in New Zealand,” he told Hawke’s Bay Today.
Rex’s decision is his own, but it’s a fascinating window into the New Zealand public health system.
That system works on a triage basis and had a challenging period keeping up with non-life-threatening surgical procedures when Covid-19 hit.
While not able to comment on individual cases, Te Whatu Ora Hawke’s Bay said referrals by a GP or specialist within the public system for a First Specialist Assessment were not a commitment to surgery.
“Referrals are first triaged based on urgency by a prioritising clinician, with Clinical Priority Access Codes (CPAC) scores contributing to the assessment system.”
Te Whatu Ora said this was designed to determine “which patients were accepted to go forward for an [assessment] appointment and potentially onto the waitlist for surgery, and those that are not”.
“The clinician can decide whether to accept, decline or transfer the referral, or defer the decision and request for more tests to be conducted.
“Patients who attend an [assessment] and meet surgery thresholds, are then placed on a waitlist for surgery.”
The Te Whatu Ora spokesperson said that as of July 19, there were 86 people on the waiting list for a first assessment regarding hip treatment in Hawke’s Bay. The average wait time for these people was 66 days.
Overall, the average wait for people already on the list for hip surgery currently sits at 93 days.
In 2022, Te Whatu Ora leaders requested that all 20 health districts “actively tackle” long waitlists by ensuring 7500 people who had been waiting longer than 12 months were given a booking by August 31.
Rex said he had spoken to many people in the community who faced challenges with the system, some he said had to wait “years” for surgery and appointments.
“Someone said to me it seemed to be older people getting pushed aside because their life expectancy isn’t so long, so why bother?
“Over there [in the Philippines], they recognise the elderly so much better.”
Rex Jones struggles daily in his work as a debilitating hip issue gets worse. Photo / Warren Buckland
A trip to the Philippines was also significantly cheaper than using the New Zealand private system to get the surgery, even after paying for the flights, he said.
According to one private healthcare provider, a hip operation could cost up to $31,000.
“It’s over $10,000 cheaper to do it in the Philippines than here,” Clem said.
Family, friends and clients have rallied to help him financially, including his own daughter who herself was battling with cancer as the family faced further hardship.
“The day she had her first chemo was the day we had a cremation service for her mother,” Rex said.
A Givealittle page set up by a generous client to help fund Rex’s trip has already accrued over $3000. Other private benefactors and past clients have also got in touch directly to help out.
He said he was extremely humbled by the support he had received.
“I’m not the type of person to ask for money.”
Rex said it was “quite daunting” to think that the first large-scale operation he would get would be overseas.
“I have never been in hospital for an operation like this in my life. I had my tonsils out when I was a kid but that was just in and out.”
But a Zoom meeting with the surgeon in the Philippines provided a sense of comfort for him, he said.
“I’m looking forward to it because I know I’m going to get it done quicker than here by years, but it’s costing us money that we haven’t got.”
The couple said they had lost around $7000-$10,000 worth of bookings as a result of the cyclone.
“I have to look after his family, I have to look after my family, I have to look after the business,” Clem said.
“All we are doing is working harder and harder.”
While looking forward to no longer being in pain, Rex said he was definitely hesitant about having to leave his job for two months.
“I’ve had to give away so much work already,” he said.
“The good thing is, most of the clients that we have will be there when we come back.”
Clem said she wanted the Government and health authorities to realise how significant the problem had to be before people would choose to go overseas for treatment.
“Unfortunately, Rex is one of the end products of the broken system and he doesn’t deserve it. How many more Kiwis are going to be dependent on another country so that they can be looked after?”
“We are not a burden to anybody, we are just trying to make a living,” she said.
A Te Whatu Ora Hawke’s Bay spokesperson said the regional Planned Care Working Group for Hawke’s Bay had been working hard to address longer waits across the region and was continuing to work towards improving wait times for treatment.
“In the past, vacancies and Covid-19 impacts have reduced the capacity of surgical services, however, the team is currently operating at full capacity,” the spokesperson said.
Mitchell Hageman joined Hawke’s Bay Today in late January. From his Napier base, he writes regularly on social issues, arts and culture, and the community.
