The government's artificial limb service has apologised to an amputee after it named her in legal proceedings when it took the Health and Disability Commissioner to court.
New Zealand Artificial Limb Service (NZALS) - a Crown agency - launched legal action against the head of another Crown entity - the Health and Disability Commissioner in December last year.
But it also named amputee Katrina Gutsell as a defendant, and after months of legal proceedings, it reached a settlement with her last month and issued a written apology.
Mrs Gutsell's complaint about her treatment is one of two complaints about NZALS that the Health and Disability Commission is currently investigating.
As part of this investigation, the commission obtained a report which it then released to Mrs Gutsell under the Official Information Act.
That prompted NZALS to take court action against Health and Disability Commissioner Anthony Hill, who refused to comment on the matter. All three parties reached a settlement last month, which included suppressing the contents of the report.
Mrs Gutsell said the $164,000 NZALS spent on the court action was a complete waste of money.
She was referred to NZALS as a child when she lost her full left leg to bone cancer. She was comfortable in her artificial limb for 30 years, working as a hairdresser and raising a family.
But that all changed 10 years ago when her prosthetist retired and she was assigned a new one.
Katrina Gutsell. Photo: SUPPLIED / Katrina Gutsell
"Basically, the man was just incapable of making me a limb. End of."
The Southland woman said NZALS has ruined her life, and she now only left the house every two weeks to attend counselling.
"I'm not comfortable. It's not safe. I'm completely on crutches, have now been for more than two and a quarter years. My back won't take wearing it anymore. The pain is just too intense ... it's like I'm in prison. That's how I feel."
She has three physical treatment injury claims accepted by ACC.
ACC has also accepted a mental injury claim, after psychiatrist evaluations reported that the treatment injury was a significant causative factor for her major depressive disorder - something she said the court process exacerbated.
As part of the settlement, NZALS issued a written apology to Mrs Gutsell for the distress it caused her and acknowledged the events that gave rise to the court action were not of her making.
NZALS chief executive Sean Gray said the organisation was required to name her as party to the legal proceedings.
"So in this matter that we had with the HDC a patient was named in the activity that went on. It was incredibly unfortunate that that was required."
New Zealand Artificial Limb Service chief executive Sean Gray Photo: RNZ/ Nick Monro
Mrs Gutsell, who is one of more than 70 amputees in New Zealand with full leg amputations, refuses to be seen by NZALS, and has seen two other private providers, but still does not have a leg she is comfortable with.
She wants NZALS to pay for her to be seen by an Australian prosthetist, who she has confidence in after being in his care two years ago while visiting Perth.
Mrs Gutsell said considering most of the country's prosthetists work for NZALS, there was not really anyone left in New Zealand who she could see.
"You go into the website, they talk the talk about how patient care is the most important thing. They talk it all, but when you complain you certainly don't get that. Basically, I can't believe anybody would be so cruel as the treatment I've had from them, to be honest. It's just shocked me."
Mr Gray said the situation was a complicated one - the Ministry of Health would have to approve the funding, and it generally believed if there were appropriately qualified prosthetists here, then that was where the treatment should be provided.
"In some situations it's very difficult and we have an isolated situation where we haven't been able to get the right outcome, and in doing so we will support her and her interests as best we can along that journey."
Minister of Social Development Carmel Sepuloni is the minister responsible for NZALS. She declined to be interviewed on this issue.
