Patient unfazed at debate over surgery wait

By AUDREY YOUNG political editor

The medical history of an elderly Auckland woman waiting for hip replacement surgery, Toos Grimsdell, was the subject of a heated argument by leaders in Parliament yesterday, but Mrs Grimsdell says she "doesn't give a damn".

"I've been in so much pain that I asked my doctor for euthanasia at one stage.

"When you are in that much pain, life is beyond meaning. I couldn't do a damned thing and my husband is 83 and it is hard on him, too," she said.

"When the Government can consistently give money to all sorts of things, like the legal aid for Mr Zaoui, for instance, then I think it is about time we are thought of, too."

The 73-year-old Sandringham woman suffers from osteo-arthritis.

Her case has been taken up by New Zealand First.

Deputy leader Peter Brown told Parliament that Mrs Grimsdell's husband, Jack, had twice been to the electorate office of Prime Minister Helen Clark in Mt Albert to try to get help for his wife.

Mrs Grimsdell had a pre-surgery assessment in early August and had been scheduled to have an operation on August 28.

Later in question time, Mr Brown told MPs that since he had raised the issue, health authorities had telephoned Mrs Grimsdell to tell her that her operation would go ahead.

Helen Clark had obviously made urgent inquiries as well because she told the House: "I seek leave to table information received from the Counties-Manukau District Health Board stating that Mrs Grimsdell's surgery was delayed because during her pre-admission check a heart murmur was detected, and she is waiting for a clearance from a cardiology specialist."

That prompted National leader Bill English to accuse Helen Clark of disclosing medical information, saying a new standard was being set.

Deputy Prime Minister Michael Cullen said no objection had been raised when Mr Brown raised her case, but "as soon as the answer is given, the Opposition get all hoity-toity about the matter."

Unusually, Act leader Richard Prebble took the side of Helen Clark.

"If a member raises a person's health record, then in my view the Government is entitled to give us the full answer."

Speaker Jonathan Hunt ruled that MPs had absolute freedom of speech in the House.

Mrs Grimsdell, who has lived in New Zealand for 50 years, said her family in the Netherlands would be amazed that she had been discussed in Parliament.

"They keep asking me: 'What the hell did you go to New Zealand for? We thought it was a country that was ahead of everything, not behind'."

Mrs Grimsdell said she could not remember how long she had been waiting for a new hip. She sought treatment before last Christmas, though she should have acted earlier.