Northlander Diane MacDonald is scared she may go blind while waiting for cataract surgery. Photo / 123rf
A 72-year-old Northland widow is fearful she will go blind while waiting for cataract surgery.
Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora says 300 people are on the waitlist for cataract surgery in Northland.
The wait is approximately eight months.
Former Kauri Museum tour guide Diane MacDonald is unable to drive any further than her local shops and has to ask neighbours for help with basic errands.
She described her vision as cloudy and reading is near impossible.
MacDonald was told a private surgery would cost $8000.
But she said she cannot afford the surgery because she has been paying for breast cancer treatment.
MacDonald has been left waiting for a publicly-funded surgery while her eyes rapidly deteriorate.
She first visited Specsavers in August after her vision started to deteriorate.
The optometrist advised her she had bad cataracts and needed to do something urgently.
“I was told it would cost me $8000, and I said I can’t afford that because I’m going through cancer treatment.”
MacDonald was advised to delay her cancer treatment and get her eye surgery first.
Te Whatu Ora said on November 14 she was referred to the ophthalmology service through her GP.
She would most likely be booked into an appointment in March to determine whether she needed surgery.
MacDonald felt her situation was urgent.
“I just want to get it over and done with.”
Te Whatu Ora said referrals are triaged on clinical urgency and patients are offered appointments in order of clinical urgency and then chronologically based on referral date.
MacDonald said her vision has deteriorated since November.
Matters are made harder as MacDonald lives alone in Kaipara’s Matakohe after her husband unexpectedly died on the side of the road in October.
Emergency services reportedly took more than an hour and a half to reach the couple after he suffered a burst aneurysm.
MacDonald and a friend had to perform CPR while waiting for help.
She said it was vital her eyes were fixed to focus on organising her husband’s funeral.
“I still haven’t had a funeral for my husband while I get my health settled.
“Everything has been held up for operations.”
MacDonald said her experience of the health system has been jarring.
“I’ve no faith at all. Very little to be honest.
“You feel let down and disappointed but you have to trust it because you’ve got no one else to go to.
“You have to trust what they say.”
She felt Northlanders deserved better care than they were getting under a strained health system.
“You’ve got to help yourself or do something on your own and not rely on these services.”
Group director of operations at Te Whatu Ora Alex Pimm said Te Whatu Ora was working hard to reduce waiting times for surgery by offering cataract surgery at Kaitāia Hospital.
He said the change would improve access for people living in the Far North by reducing travel time.
MacDonald said she told Te Whatu Ora she would happily organise to travel to Kaitāia if it sped up the process.
The Te Whatu Ora staff member said it was a good idea, but she never found out if it would eventuate.
Pimm encouraged people to follow the advice of clinicians and speak to their GP with any concerns.
Brodie Stone is an education and general news reporter at the Advocate. Brodie has spent most of her life in Whangārei and is passionate about delving into issues that matter to Northlanders and beyond.
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