It has been three years since school teacher Olivia Keating went to Caboolture Hospital for a caesarean and emerged with part of her bowel sewn into the wall of her abdomen.
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Since then she has endured 11 operations to fix a mistake that at times threatened her life and left her with "a football of organs in my groin, that stick outside of my body".
Ms Keating has two more surgeries ahead of her and is desperate for some formal acknowledgement of what she has endured.
But she fears she has been locked out of a review into allegations of deadly and botched operations at the hospital, north of Brisbane.
The review will cover surgical incidents performed between 2020 and now, while Ms Keating had her caesarean in September 2018.
"I just want to be acknowledged. How many other people like me are there? My first reaction was, 'what are they so afraid of?'." Ms Keating said through tears on Monday.
"My children had to live through me nearly dying, over and over and over. My partner had to see his partner nearly dying, over and over. You don't know what it's like to say goodbye to someone before you go into surgery."
The review was ordered after media reports aired claims of preventable deaths, surgical negligence, and a culture of bullying at Caboolture Hospital.
A hotline set up to take complaints has received 74 calls so far.
The state Opposition has called the review a sham and claims the terms of reference facilitate a cover up.
"There is no community consultation, there is no ability for patients to actually come forward and talk about their stories," Liberal National Party health spokeswoman Ros Bates said.
"The time frame basically excludes most of the people who have already come to the LNP with complaints ... and that is just appalling. We need to make sure these people are heard."
Queensland Health Minister Yvette D'Ath said the terms were set by the chair of the Metro North Hospital and Health Service board, Jim McGowan.
"They've engaged an independent specialist from interstate to do this review," the minister said.
"I've made it very clear - and the chair has put this in the terms of reference - that people can come forward with any concerns, or complaints, or issues that have arisen at the hospital, and they will be considered as part of this review."
Metro North Health told AAP "all feedback, from any time frame, is reviewed and taken seriously and those with concerns are encouraged to call the hotline".
Beryl Crosby is a former patient of disgraced Bundaberg Hospital surgeon Jayant Patel, and went on to form a support group for people who say they suffered under his care.
She joined Ms Keating outside Caboolture Hospital on Monday and said she had already called Queensland Health Director-General John Wakefield seeking support for Caboolture Hospital victims.
"Don't be worried about telling your story. It needs to be told," she said, urging nurses and doctors at Caboolture to report anything they know.
"If you are a whistleblower please don't do what they did in Bundaberg, don't just be frightened for your jobs, or worried you're being bullied ... please come and help these patients. You are sometimes their only advocate."
The Metro North board has commissioned independent general surgeon Dr Jim Sweeney to conduct the review.
The outcomes are expected by the end of October or early November and will be publicly released.
Australian Associated Press
