A Whanganui man discovered an aneurysm missed by two doctors after reviewing his own CT scan results on his patient portal.

The GP practice - which should have followed up with him - apologised and said it was urgently reviewing his case.

Gerry Leibbrandt saw a doctor at Living Waters Medical in May last year for abdominal pain, and was sent for a CT scan.

The results showed a cyst on his kidney and he was sent for a second scan, this time using dye contrast.

But Leibbrandt did not hear back from the doctor about those results, and after two weeks, he checked his patient portal app where he found the results had been uploaded.

At the top of the second scan report, it noted a "focal aneurysmal dilatation of the left common iliac artery measuring 40mm" - something requiring urgent medical attention.

Having heard nothing from his doctor regarding these results, he called to make a follow-up appointment, and was given one with a doctor from Auckland through telehealth.

This doctor also read the report and said he saw nothing remarkable - until Leibbrandt pointed out the note.

"I said, 'Just read the report from the top.' And it went quiet. And then he came back and he said... 'I'll refer you to a vascular surgeon'."

In the interim, he made two trips to the ED for sudden pain. On one occasion, an ultrasound showed the aneurysm clearly, and the radiologist remarked that she hoped he was seen for that soon.

He underwent surgery in June and was now recovering at home.

In total, the delays to his diagnosis contributed to a wait-time of nearly a year.

Living Waters did not respond to RNZ's requests for comment.

Disappointed by the care he had received, Leibbrandt wrote to Living Waters in July 2025.

"Is it not your policy to follow up with patients when they receive any results either to inform them that everything is ok or otherwise?" he wrote.

He initially received an apology for the delay in responding later that month, but the letter did not include an apology for misreading his scan results.

"While there is no evidence that your care was not clinically actioned, we accept that your experience of the communication and follow-up was not optimal," the practice said in a letter.

Leibbrandt followed up and asked for his appointment fee to be refunded, and requested a further apology.

Eventually, in July this year, his appointment fee was refunded and an apology issued for the failings in healthcare - again, nearly a year since he first made the complaint.

"We sincerely apologise that your complaint was not responded to in a timely manner," the practice says in a second letter, dated 3 July 2026. "That should not have occurred."

"Having reviewed the position so far, we have identified that your complaint and the follow-up actions were not appropriately managed or handed over by the staff responsible at the time," it reads.

There had since been staffing changes at the practice.

"Living Waters Medical accepts responsibility for that failure."

Leibbrandt also informed the Health and Disability Commissioner of his situation, and asked them to look into how it had happened.

But the HDC said it closed this complaint when Leibbrandt accepted the clinic's second apology, and told them he wouldn't be taking the complaint further.

Rather than compensation, Leibbrandt was seeking assurances this would not happen again.

"My concern is that other people would not do what I did and not see their report," he said.