Tauranga Hospital: Retiree tries to get on surgery waitlist for knee replacement for six years

An 82-year-old Tauranga retiree says his pain has doubled in the six years he has been trying to get a knee replacement and he now cannot walk more than 50 metres.

The pain in Murray Dennis’ left knee meant he had to make the “devastating” decision to quit his job and suffer a “huge” loss of income.

Dennis was first referred to Tauranga Hospital for an assessment six years ago and was elated when he was put on the elective surgery waitlist in August this year.

The avid hunter and fisher said the pain has progressed in that time from a “four or five” out of 10 to an eight.

He said he felt “deflated”after finding out he did not have a confirmed surgery date..

“Because I can’t move, I can’t do anything … mentally, it just gets worse.”

The number of patients on the waitlist has dropped since September 2022, when 2707 people were waiting for surgery at Tauranga Hospital.

In January this year, 2580 people were on the Tauranga Hospital surgery waitlist, and, as of October 20, that number was down to 1738, according to Te Whatu Ora Health NZ.

Te Whatu Ora said delivering treatment to those waiting the longest was the first step to improving wait times for everyone. Its long-term goal was for patients to receive treatment within four months of being accepted for surgery.

Dennis told the Bay of Plenty Times he first raised his knee problems with his doctor when he was 76, then had an appointment at the hospital to assess his eligibility for a knee replacement.

Tauranga retiree Murray Dennis was put on the waitlist for knee replacement surgery at Tauranga Hospital in August this year but does not have a date for the operation. Photo / Alex Cairns

“I’ve been several times since for evaluation and every time I go in there, they say there’s nothing they can do about it.”

In his opinion, that was “not good enough”.

Dennis said his knee was “falling apart”.

“I can walk probably 50 metres now.”

Dennis said he had to quit his full-time agricultural job six years ago because of his knee.

He said not having a job was “devastating” and meant he had to live off superannuation.

Dennis, who lives with his son, said he spent his days on his computer and “that’s about it”.

Tauranga retiree Murray Dennis has been trying to get knee surgery for six years. Photo / Alex Cairns

He said he had trouble gardening, walking up the stairs in his home and could not exercise because of the pain in his knee.

“When I go to the supermarket, if I haven’t got a trolley, I can’t do it.”

Dennis said it was “great” to be put on the waitlist, but not having a confirmed date for surgery was a “letdown”.

He said getting surgery would give him a “new life” and would mean he could go fishing and hunting again.

“I can go back out and do what I like to do.”

Te Whatu Ora Hauora a Toi Bay of Plenty operations acting group director Sarah Mitchell said 1738 people were confirmed for elective surgery, of whom 1130 had been waiting less than the four-month target and 557 people had been waiting four to 12 months.

Mitchell said “good progress” had been made to prioritise those waiting more than 12 months, with 51 people now waiting.

There were 380 people waiting for orthopaedic surgery, such as hip and knee operations, she said.

Mitchell said Te Whatu Ora was taking a nationally co-ordinated approach to reduce surgery waitlists and acknowledged the impact of waiting longer for surgery and treatment on patients and their families.

She said work was continuing to address system pressures that affected clinic and theatre.

“Our immediate focus is on urgent patients and those who have been waiting the longest for treatment and we know this is making a difference.”

Mitchell said Te Whatu Ora had cleared the waitlist of people waiting more than three years for treatment – excluding orthopaedics – locally and nationally.

In the Bay of Plenty, additional theatre sessions were used and surgeries were outsourced to private providers, she said.

Mitchell said it continued to implement recommendations from the Reset and Restore Plan from the Planned Care Taskforce, including using a regional approach to pool resources to outsource patients where possible and move teams between sites to use available theatre capacity.

A working group had been established to help maximise the use of theatre capacity and $118 million was invested in Budget 2023 to address waitlist backlogs by maximising theatre capacity in the public and private systems.

This month, the Herald reported hospitals were increasingly running surgical lists on weekends in a bid to reduce waitlist numbers.

Mitchell said planned care at Tauranga Hospital was scheduled on alternate Saturdays.

This had been ongoing since 2022, with surgery being offered every alternate weekend, when staffing allowed.

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.