{"id":596937,"date":"2026-09-11T09:04:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T09:04:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/596937\/"},"modified":"2026-09-11T09:04:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T09:04:10","slug":"medical-centre-refused-doctor-defibrillator-after-man-collapsed-outside-witness-claims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/596937\/","title":{"rendered":"Medical centre refused doctor, defibrillator after man collapsed outside, witness claims"},"content":{"rendered":"

McInroe, a former anaesthetic technician<\/a>, was at her shop Everlasting and Co when she saw CPR being performed on a man nearby.<\/p>\n

When she got to the scene, she was told an ambulance had been called and a young couple had been refused help from the medical centre metres away, McInroe said.<\/p>\n

\u201cA young woman said \u2026 [she\u2019d] asked and they said, \u2018No, it\u2019s not our patient, we can\u2019t help\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know for a fact that one, they\u2019re under oath, [and] two, if you know it\u2019s a medical emergency \u2013 unless someone in that practice is \u2026 keeping someone alive in there \u2013 you just say \u2018sorry, I just need a minute\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201c[But] nobody attended, not one person.\u201d<\/p>\n

The couple who found the man later told McInroe he initially had a faint pulse and unusual breathing.<\/p>\n

She was also told the medical centre refused a request for a defibrillator but one was provided by Anytime Fitness gym, McInroe said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew that he was deceased when I arrived. There was no pulse. But obviously you continue until someone appropriate calls that.\u201d<\/p>\n

As she and another bystander performed CPR, McInroe asked someone to get a pillow from the medical centre, as the man\u2019s head was \u201cbashing on the concrete\u201d, but the person told her the medical centre had said no. <\/p>\n

The person took one anyway, McInroe said.<\/p>\n

A request for a blanket was also refused by the medical centre, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt felt like 15 to 20 minutes I was there before the paramedics arrived, it could\u2019ve been slightly less \u2026 and I was just concerned about his dignity. His chest was exposed, it was cold \u2026 he deserved a blanket.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just before emergency services arrived, a woman describing herself as a doctor took over CPR. McInroe later confronted the woman to ask why she hadn\u2019t come out of the medical centre earlier.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe said, \u2018What are you talking about? I haven\u2019t come from that practice, I was driving by\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MtMt Albert Medical Centre on New North Rd, Auckland, near where a man died after collapsing on the footpath yesterday. Photo \/ Google Street View<\/p>\n

Later, as McInroe was leaving, she spotted police in a nearby carpark.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to make a complaint about that medical centre for not assisting in any way at all \u2026 they took a statement and they said the coroner will need this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yesterday\u2019s alleged incident has sparked condemnation on social media.<\/p>\n

More than 80 comments have been made on a post to the Mt Albert Community Facebook page.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact a doctor didn\u2019t check on the man in need of medical help is unbelievable (or did they?),\u201d wrote one.<\/p>\n

\u201cShame on the staff at that practice… so disgraceful if that\u2019s the case.\u201d<\/p>\n

Doctors have an \u201cethical obligation \u2026 to respond promptly\u201d if needed for a medical emergency, according to the Medical Council of New Zealand<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you choose not to attend a medical emergency, you must be able to justify your decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

It couldn\u2019t comment on whether any notifications or complaints had been received about an individual doctor, or on individual cases, because of privacy, the medical council\u2019s chairman Dr Ken Clark said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnyone who has concerns about a doctor can make a notification to council using the online form on our website<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Health & Disability Commissioner spokesperson said it couldn\u2019t comment on individual complaints without a privacy waiver from all involved.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, a brief search of our database couldn\u2019t find a complaint that matched that description.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cherie Howie is an Auckland-based reporter who joined the Herald in 2011. She has been a journalist for more than 20 years and specialises in general news and features.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"McInroe, a former anaesthetic technician, was at her shop Everlasting and Co when she saw CPR being performed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":596938,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[74,17517,44156,1550,2562,42503,97309,7061,43972,13800,5838,109669,5158,3523,111,43,139,5006,69,14727,1597,34600,14775,3603],"class_list":["post-596937","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-after","tag-because","tag-bystanders","tag-centre","tag-claims","tag-collapsed","tag-defibrillator","tag-doctor","tag-footpath","tag-giving","tag-help","tag-lend","tag-man","tag-medical","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-not","tag-nz","tag-outside","tag-patient","tag-refused","tag-send","tag-witness"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596937","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=596937"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/596937\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/596938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=596937"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=596937"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=596937"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}