After delaying reconstructive operations for almost a decade, Hutt Hospital in Wellington announced it is trying to catch up on a ten-year backlog of women who underwent mastectomies. Because of tight budgets and limited operating theater space, breast constructions were repeatedly delayed in the past, often infinitively.

Women, who chose to delay follow-up reconstructive surgeries in order to recover from the initial surgery or to undergo radiation treatment, were in the past placed at the bottom of the priority list, often causing their follow-up surgeries to not be scheduled at all.

In October 2009, two temporary theaters were opened at Hutt Hospital, allowing the District Health Board to launch the three-year catch-up program.

So far, 99 women eligible for surgery have contacted the health care provider. Some women had to be turned away because their smoking habit, obesity or returned cancer would have caused a high risk of complications. Others decided against reconstruction.

Still, hospital officials suspect that there are more women who are eligible for the surgery. "There could be eligible women out there who had a mastectomy and would now like to consider reconstruction", Dr. Carolyn Braddock, the hospital’s Surgical Services Manager, said. "They can get their breast surgeon or GP to refer them to our service where they will all be considered".