A Northland woman who has been waiting 14 years to get a hysterectomy feels like she is serving a prison sentence which keeps being extended.

DonnaMaree Austin, 49, was first told by a specialist she needed a hysterectomy in 2008, but the surgery to stop severe pain and heavy menstrual bleeding keeps getting delayed.

Most recently, her surgery was booked for June 15, but was cancelled again when Austin got a weak-positive Covid-19 RAT result on May 28.

She believed the result was a false positive – as she had no symptoms nor any further positive results – but was denied the chance to take a more accurate PCR test before her surgery was cancelled.

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A new date has not yet been set.

Cases like Austin’s are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to waiting times for surgeries in Northland, according to data obtained under the Official Information Act.

Tai Tokerau has the longest waiting times, both to see a specialist and then to have the surgery, for all of the conditions covered by the data: hysterectomies, hip replacements, knee replacements, breast reconstruction, gall bladder removal and colonoscopies.

On average, a person in Northland who needs a hysterectomy will wait 242 days to see a specialist for the first time, and a further 244 days to have the surgery – a total of about 16 months.

This is the longest waiting time out of 15 district health boards (DHBs) who responded to Stuff within statutory time frames. More time was requested by West Coast and Canterbury, Tairāwhiti, Hawke’s Bay and Wairarapa DHBs.

Northland DHB would not provide specific comment on Austin’s case, despite receiving a privacy waiver from her.

But surgical and support services general manager Mark McGinley said there are a range of reasons a patient might have multiple delays and appointments, including other conditions which stop the surgery going ahead.

“It is essential to ensure that a patient will be fit for and benefit from receiving a surgical intervention,” he said.

Until late 2020, just a small percentage of Northland patients waited longer than four months for a first specialist appointment, McGinley said.

However, the Covid-19 outbreaks have impacted the region, as well as severely limiting the capacity of two new operating theatres, which opened in July 2021.

The Government has committed at least $572 million to replace Whangārei Hospital’s main block, including a new theatre suite and new inpatient beds, which is expected to open in 2031.

But Austin said her wait for a hysterectomy began well before the Covid-19 pandemic.

She has adenomyosis, a condition where the endometrial tissue – which normally lines the uterus – grows into the muscular wall of the uterus.

The result is monthly periods which are so painful she can barely talk, heavy bleeding resulting in severe iron loss and a severely compromised quality of life.

“All these years I’ve had to take time off work every month, so I can stay in bed with a hot water bottle and heavy painkillers.”

Austin has had a number of procedures and pre-surgical assessments.

She was told to lose weight and lost a whopping 56kg, which she managed to keep off for five years, but still she did not get the surgery.

After losing weight, in 2017, Austin became pregnant, but miscarried because of the adenomyosis.

To remove pregnancy tissue following the miscarriage, she had a minor procedure – a hysteroscopy, dilation and curettage, she said.

The gynaecologist offered to perform a hysterectomy at the same time but, overwhelmed with the emotion of losing her baby, Austin declined.

However, her condition worsened and in April a gynaecologist said her hysterectomy was so urgent it needed to be performed within a month.

Austin said she “put her life on hold” when given a surgery date of June 15, only to have it moved again by her weak-positive RAT test.

“I’m tired of the fact that everyone else, for the last 14 years, has hopped ahead of me because I’m not important enough to get it done,” she said.

“It’s like a prison sentence that keeps getting added to.”

McGinley said in some instances a PCR test will be required to confirm a positive RAT.

But he said patients who have tested positive for Covid-19 are required to have a stand-down period to enable them to recover, based on local and international guidelines.