Health NZ failed to recognise woman's heart attack before she left Tauranga ED

Detailed summary

Michelle Pillay wrote in her hospital discharge form that she was going home as she had "given up waiting to be seen by a doctor".

Michelle Pillay wrote in her hospital discharge form that she was going home as she had "given up waiting to be seen by a doctor".

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The Health and Disability Commission has ordered Health NZ to apologise to her family after staff at Tauranga Hospital failed to recognise she was experiencing a significant life-threatening cardiac event.

Her partner Roisin Connolly said Pillay was the "most amazing person".

She was smart, articulate, sassy, intellectual, fun and funny and "always championed the underdog".

Connolly said she took Pillay, who was struggling with chest pain, to Tauranga Hospital in September 2022, believing she was in good hands.

"It failed in its duty of care and I have nightmares about how she suffered.

"Michelle asked to leave several times because no one would help her and she believed she was going to die there."

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