The Whanganui District Health Board has offered apologies to the family of an elderly woman who died of complications after district nurses failed to get urgent help for a deteriorating leg wound. Health and Disability commissioner Anthony Hill upheld complaints of inadequate care in a decision released on Monday. The woman’s condition and pain levels grew worse while waiting for a hospital appointment, and after attempts to save her leg, it was amputated below the knee and she died of complications at another hospital. Health board nursing director Sandy Blake said the board and one of the nurses involved in the 80-year-old’s care had formally apologised, and a second nurse had retired. The board had also improved systems to avoid repeating shortcomings identified by the commissioner. One problem was that three staff had independently assessed referrals for the woman, each unaware that there were others, and that her condition was getting worse.
