Keryn Densem 31, is fundraising for a hysterectomy after being rejected twice for an assessment in the public system.

New Zealand has a world-class public health system, but for some people accessing care can be a long, painful journey. OLIVER LEWIS reports.

Keryn Densem wants a hysterectomy – but she's having to fundraise to get it.

The 31-year-old, who has lived with painful gynaecological issues since she was 16, was referred twice to the Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) for an assessment this year. She wanted to discuss the hormone therapy drugs she had been taking for the past seven years and what her options were, but was declined both times.

"I felt absolutely hopeless," Densem says. "I was at the point where I was so depressed about it that I justcare. Their GPs refer them for specialist assessments, and for whatever reason – they don't meet the threshold, or maybe the service they need is swamped by demand – they get rejected. What that means is they wait, often for a long time, and often in pain.

Densem has been taking hormone therapy drugs to medically induce menopause for the last seven years. When she was 16, a scan revealed a large cyst on her left ovary. She had it surgically removed, and was later diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome. Densem experienced heavy bleeding to the point where she required a blood transfusion when she was 21. She also had to have regular iron injections.

In 2012, she was also diagnosed with adenomyosis, a condition where the tissue that normally