After more than a year of debilitating pain, Graham Kingswell collapsed on the floor of his home paralysed from the waist down. It was the day before his planned spine surgery.

He is still living with the consequences. Kingswell, 75, developed a serious condition waiting for surgery resulting in a permanent loss of bowel and bladder control. He needs a catheter to urinate, and regularly checks his bowels using a glove due to a lack of sensation.

While he can walk again, mostly with the aid of a walking frame, the Christchurch man misses his former mobility (he tears up talking about walks on the beach). He was Santa Claus at The Palms mall for several years, but had to drop that in 2017 – a year he needed large amounts of opioid drugs to manage his back pain.

"My quality of life, it was stuffed. And it's still not that bloody handsome, either."

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Kingswell was not told about cauda equina syndrome, the serious condition he developed where nerves in the lower portion of the spinal canal get compressed. If he had been aware of the symptoms, and if his surgery had taken place in a timely manner, he believes he wouldn't have been left permanently disabled.

ALDEN WILLIAMS/STUFF Graham Kingswell remains frustrated by the way his case was handled by the CDHB, and says he has complained to the Health and Disability Commissioner.

The 75-year-old went to his GP about his back pain in January, 2017 and was referred to a Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) physiotherapist. He was put on a wait list for spinal decompression surgery in April, 2018, and waited 175 days for surgery, far longer than the 100 days the CDHB aims to achieve.

Are you waiting in pain for surgery? Email your story to Oliver.Lewis@stuff.co.nz

In an email seen by Stuff, his surgeon at the CDHB called the situation a "sad indictment on the treatment we are offering". A letter sent by a CDHB staff member to Kingswell's GP in September 2018, the month he had surgery, said "it is incredibly disappointing he has had to suffer like this while his surgery has been deferred".

The CDHB carried out a serious event review and has apologised to Kingswell, who has now laid a complaint with the Health and Disability Commissioner. The health board says it has made changes to improve access to spine surgery, including recruiting two extra surgeons, taking the number to five.

When Kingswell was waiting for surgery, chief medical officer Dr Sue Nightingale said the CDHB had been writing to patients saying they couldn't carry out their surgery in the "appropriate timeframe" and if their condition changed to contact their GP.

The review found resources were going into acute spinal surgery "to the detriment of the elective service", there was "no agreed solution" on how to manage this, and surgeons were "no longer being routinely informed when a patient made contact".

Nightingale acknowledged if other processes had been in place "there was a possibility that Mr Kingswell would not have developed cauda equina and we are sincerely sorry for this".

ALDEN WILLIAMS/STUFF Graham Kingswell managed his back pain with large amounts of opioid drugs for more than a year.

Kingswell said he wasn't angry, but he did blame management at the CDHB who he accused of "hiding behind their answerphones". After he was put on the wait list, he repeatedly tried calling to find out when his surgery would take place and let staff know he was "going downhill". The one time he was put through to his surgeon was by mistake.

"It just kept getting worse and worse and worse until I finished up on the floor here and they carted me in and I was totally paralysed in the bottom half."

After he first sought help for his back pain, an MRI in July, 2017 showed he had severe stenosis. The condition, often caused by age-related wear and tear, puts pressure on the spinal cord and nerves.

Following a first specialist assessment in October, Kingswell had a guided steroid injection in February, 2018. He was put on the wait list for surgery in April.

Throughout, Kingswell was managing his pain with "excessive amounts" of opioid drugs. He was struggling to sleep and didn't like taking them because "you're not with it". He lives alone with his two cats, Rosie and Bella and some days he "wouldn't bother getting out of [bed]."

He was also admitted to hospital a number of times for breathing problems. Kingswell maintains it was because he couldn't exercise; his legs were numb and he needed a walking frame.

During pre-surgery assessments in September medical staff realised Kingswell had been experiencing symptoms of cauda equina for about six weeks. Kingswell said he had been struggling with bowel incontinence, but put it down to old age.

The surgeon fast-tracked the procedure and it took place on September 24. Since the operation, Kingswell has undergone another major spinal surgery after losing sensation in his arms. He is full of praise for his surgeon and the spinal unit, but remains critical of CDHB management.

Nightingale said the health board had implemented a new model of care for acute spine surgery. The changes had created theatre access each day for acute cases; the sessions could also be used for elective patients.

There were currently 43 elective patients on the wait list for spine surgery. Nightingale said the health board had got through 35 of the cases with the longest wait times this year.

Calls from patients about elective spine surgery were being referred to a clinical nurse coordinator, who then discussed it with their surgeon, she said.