The only option the couple have been given - respite care in a rest-home - does not address his emotional or intellectual needs, she says.
Her stand is supported by Parkinson's New Zealand field support worker Paula Ryan, who says the man has little in common with his fellow rest-home residents, where the average age was likely to be 82 and the expected lifespan about two years.
While the man was reliant on others to help with his mobility, "intellectually, he is fine".
The man's partner would like him to receive respite care in a McGlynn Home, which caters for people with disabilities who are aged under 65.
The issue appears to be that because he was originally assessed as having health needs which were "close in interest" to people over 65, and his funding therefore provided by the district health board, his care cannot now be transferred to the Ministry of Health (which directly funds under-65-year-olds with disability), unless both organisations agree the initial decision was wrong.
The woman's complaint to the Health and Disability Commissioner has resulted in the Otago District Health Board acknowledging that the man's reassessment last year, before he began respite care, was not satisfactorily completed.
Among the issues was that it was carried out without input from the man's partner.
As a result of the complaint, the board has offered to undertake another assessment, but the woman does not believe this will address the question of the appropriateness of the respite care.
(It is beyond the jurisdiction of the Health and Disability Commissioner to address issues of access to care.)Ms Ryan said there seemed to be little understanding of the couple's situation.
The woman "works full-time and then goes home and works full-time again".
It was important that every eight weeks, when the man went into respite care for a fortnight, that his partner could feel satisfied he was happy.
"She wants the best care for him and he deserves the best care.
What is so frustrating is that people are not listening to the needs of both of them."
The woman, who did not wish to be named, said when her partner was at home her day began at 4.15am and she administered his last medication at 9.30pm.
On a good night, she might be disturbed four times a night, but sometimes she could be up 10 times tending to him, she said.
She praised the in-house care received through the board, but said that when the time for his respite care approached "we both get really anxious and the stress levels rise".
A specialist involved in the man's care advised more than a year ago - when the man's need for respite care became apparent - that since the man was first diagnosed some 10 years earlier, services provided for patients under 65 with a disability had improved.
While the man had originally been placed under the aged care umbrella because it was then considered his needs would be best served there, that situation no longer applied.
He suggested there was no logic in having him remain under that classification and sought a reclassification for his patient.
Such reclassification would mean that rather than the man's funding coming under the district health board, it would be picked up by the Ministry of Health.
The man's partner understands there are other under-65-year-olds with Parkinson's who are not classed as having age-related conditions.
In correspondence on the issue, the Otago District Health Board has pointed out it does not have a contract with McGlynn.
In a recent interview, board group manager for mental health and community services Elaine Chisnall said she was not prepared to discuss an individual case, but that decisions about whether someone's condition was "close in interest" to an over-65-year-old were not simple and not made lightly.
A needs assessment was not a clinical decision and involved all information relevant to the person's needs.
Facilities providing both short and long-term residential care for people considered to have age-related needs had to be able to meet the physical, emotional and intellectual needs of the person.
"This will be determined at the time of the needs assessment and in conjunction with the individual, their family and the needs assessment service co-ordinator."
There was also the right to appeal the assessment.
This was communicated to the person and their family at the time of their assessment.
The woman in this case told the Otago Daily Times she had not been present at the reassessment last July and was unaware of any appeal process.
Ms Ryan was also not involved in the reassessment.
Mrs Chisnall said the board had 43 facilities in the Otago region which had the ability to provide care to those under 65 considered to have age-related needs and individual plans were developed for each patient.
Having access to social activities would be among the aspects of care which would be considered.
