Apology for 'indefensible' 11-hour trips that plagued ‘good, kind man's’ final year alive

Monday, 18 May 2026

Tracy Collins died in November 2025, aged 70. Much of his last year of life was spent commuting from Ōhope, Bay of Plenty, to Hamilton for dialysis, because the local unit in Whakatāne was full. His wife Theresa Collins is now speaking up for other patients.

Tracy Collins spent seven months of his final year on 11-hour round trips between Ōhope and Hamilton for dialysis.

Local units in Whakatāne and Tauranga were at capacity, forcing the commute to Waikato Hospital three times a week.

Health NZ Midland regional director Cath Cronin has apologised for the hardship and says a nationwide renal plan is being developed.

At least 12 patients in the Bay of Plenty are currently required to travel between regions for dialysis services.

Much of Tracy Collins’ last year of life was spent commuting from Ōhope to Hamilton for dialysis - an 11 hour round trip, three times a week - because units in Whakatāne and Tauranga were full. His wife Theresa says that made the end of his life a misery, and shortened it, and the crisis is now enveloping others.

When Tracy Collins was little, he and his sister held a tea party in the woolshed. They poured what was available, and sipped on toxic sheep dip.

Tracy Collins was an enrolled nurse, father, grandfather and great-grandfather.

“They said it could affect his organs, and, unfortunately, it did,” says Theresa Collins, his wife of 34 years, of the lasting effects from the liquid insecticide/fungicide, ingestion of which can damage the kidneys.

“We always knew he was going to end up on dialysis.”

Tracy nonetheless forged ahead with life - becoming a nurse, marrying, and raising three children.

After his first marriage ended he met and married Theresa. They had five boys, one of whom, a twin, died after being born prematurely.

He was close with all his children, Theresa says, and thrilled at becoming a grandfather and great-grandfather.

Theresa says the need to commute so far for dialysis contributed to a wretched last year of life for her husband Tracy Collins.

The couple moved to the beach town of Ōhope in the Bay of Plenty in 2017, and enjoyed semi-retirement - both working part-time, with Tracy caring for disabled patients.

His kidney health declined, however, and in December 2019 he began peritoneal dialysis.

A tube was connected to a catheter (soft, flexible tube) surgically inserted into part of his stomach, and a cleansing fluid run through it.

The inner lining of the abdomen, called the peritoneum, acted as a filter and removed waste from his blood - a job usually done by the kidneys.

After a set amount of time, the fluid with this filtered waste flowed out of his abdomen, and was disposed of.

Such peritoneal or PD dialysis works inside the body and is different from haemodialysis, which filters blood using a machine.

Because PD dialysis can be done at home or even when travelling, Theresa says, “it didn’t stop us doing anything - we went to Aussie, the South Island, we had a great life”.

Things began to fall apart, however, when Tracy had his first bad infection related to the dialysis in December 2024. Antibiotics failed, and in February 2025 the catheter was surgically removed.

Tracy Collins relished time with his family, Theresa says.

A replacement didn’t work, and efforts to manipulate it caused another infection. Tracy was repeatedly sent to the back of a lengthy and delayed queue for more catheter insertions/manipulations, Theresa says.

In the meantime, he was on haemodialysis - the sort in which blood is filtered using a dialysis machine, placed next to the patient’s chair at a hospital or clinic.

This needed to happen three times a week, and each session lasted between 4-5 hours.

Anticipating such a day might come, he and Theresa had settled in Ōhope because nearby Whakatāne had a haemodialysis unit.

However, they were dismayed to learn that the six renal chairs in the unit were fully booked, and capacity had not expanded since it opened in 2014.

“To watch him be so profoundly let down by that same system in the final year of his life continues to fuel my grief and anger,” Theresa says.

The unit in Tauranga was similarly over-subscribed. The only slots free were at Waikato Hospital, at 2.30pm every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

Theresa drove. They would leave home about 11am. Tracy finished dialysis at about 7pm, and they would get on the road again, arriving home around 10pm.

Those 11 hour roundtrip days were repeated three times a week, for 7 months. Accidents and roadworks could add hours to the journey.

“This expectation would challenge a healthy person for a short period. To impose it on renal patients for months on end is indefensible,” Theresa would later write to health leaders.

“The physical decline in my husband over those months was staggering - extreme fatigue, weight loss, and deterioration that anyone paying attention could see.

Dialysis services are under strain nationwide, and demand is growing.

“What grieves me most is that we did not get to live during what became the final year of his life. Between dialysis and commuting, we were simply too exhausted. Time that should have been spent at home, and with family, was spent on the road.”

They received petrol vouchers, and could access $100 towards a motel if they wanted to stay overnight - an option that didn’t work, given their dog, cat, wider life and Theresa’s job were in Ōhope.

Theresa suspects the nationwide cost of such travel and accommodation reimbursement would be huge - she knows some patients who are taken by paid drivers from the region to Waikato for dialysis - and better spent on improving local services.

She says haemodialysis didn’t suit Tracy, and he often carried too much fluid between sessions, causing shortness of breath, but he wasn’t prioritised for the catheter replacement needed to get back on home-based dialysis.

“We felt we had no advocate … he lost probably 20kg - he said, ‘The commuting is killing me’, and he was so right.”

Health NZ has apologised for the “hardship” faced by patients who have to commute long distances for dialysis.

A successful catheter replacement eventually allowed a return to PD dialysis in late August 2025, but Theresa says the damage was more than done.

Tracy died in November 2025, aged 70.

Theresa had already emailed hospital leaders about their plight when Tracy was alive, and sent a follow-up after his death.

“I am writing this email in anger, grief, and deep frustration. I will be very clear from the outset: had adequate haemodialysis services been in place in Whakatāne, my husband would have had more time to live,” she wrote in the February 2026 email.

“[Sending patients to Hamilton] was not a short-term contingency. It was an extended, foreseeable, and entirely avoidable failure that has existed in this region for far too long.

“My husband was a good, kind man and a trained nurse who spent his life contributing to the health system. To watch him be so profoundly let down by that same system in the final year of his life continues to fuel my grief and anger.

“This is still happening. Your delays are not abstract … patients currently commuting are being robbed of what little quality of life they have left.

“This email is my final stand for my husband. Many patients are not strong enough to advocate for themselves - they are already carrying more than enough.”

On April 1, 2026 Cath Cronin, Health NZ’s executive regional director for the Midland region (comprising Waikato, Lakes, Bay of Plenty, Taranaki and Tairāwhiti), visited Theresa and her sons at home, and followed up with an email, thanking her for her “courageous and honest” conversation.

Cronin rang Theresa again this week after Stuff lodged questions and, in a statement, said, “ we are deeply sorry for the hardship” experienced by patients and families made to travel long distances for dialysis, including “the significant physical, emotional and financial toll”.

“We also apologise for the frustration felt by our communities regarding the pace of change with haemodialysis. Health NZ recognises the importance of increasing access to haemodialysis services closer to home and this remains a priority.”

Demand was growing each year, and many services were at or above usual capacity, Cronin said, with “significant service gaps” in some rural areas.

Cronin said a nationwide renal dialysis plan was being developed, and, in the short-term, there would be extra shifts in dialysis units.

Currently, 12 patients in Bay of Plenty are having to travel between areas for dialysis. Health NZ couldn’t provide nationwide figures by deadline, but Madi Keay, general manager of the advocacy and support group Kidney Health NZ, told Stuff there were increasing reports of people travelling long distances, highlighting “ the need for better long-term planning and investment'.

Theresa is glad the problem is being acknowledged by authorities, but says a 2022 survey had clearly shown that growing demand would outstrip capacity, yet it wasn’t improved.

Her whānau paid the price. On Thursday she welcomed a grandson, Eli Collins - a joyous occasion tinged with sadness he won’t meet Tracy.