Braemar Hospital has provided 159 free surgeries in one year to patients who may not have been eligible for surgery in a public hospital. Photo: Supplied / Braemar Hospital website
A private hospital has provided 159 free surgeries in one year to needy patients who may not have otherwise been eligible for the surgery in a public hospital.
The surgeries at Braemar Hospital in Hamilton included paediatric dental and general surgery, minor plastics general surgery, colonoscopies, gynaecology and children's ear, nose and throat (ENT) procedures such as grommets, tonsils and adenoids.
Braemar Charitable Trust, which owns the hospital, said the surgeries cost the trust $88,000, but the "real cost" was about $500,000.
That was because surgeons and anaesthetists credentialed to work at Braemar Hospital, as well as hospital staff, donated 712 hours to perform the surgeries while the trust paid for nursing, drugs and consumables with the hospital providing these at cost.
Dozens of the surgeries for Waikato patients were carried out over two weekends in November.
Trust manager Paula Baker said patients told the trust the surgeries were "life-changing" for them.
"All have faced barriers to accessing healthcare, many have been suffering pain, discomfort and the mental anguish of waiting has been tough.
"When people are unwell and are waiting for tests or surgery, it impacts them, their families and whānau, and their ability to get on with life."
Some of the work included dental procedures or surgeries for the victims of domestic violence who were living in one of six women's refuges in Waikato.
Trust chairperson Vicky McLennan said the charity had delivered 124 percent more free community surgeries than the year before as part of its drive to improve health equity and access in the Waikato region.
"The trust is driven to advance healthcare equity and access and to improve health outcomes in our communities.
"We're very focused on delivering that through our five charitable pillars, and we're in the unique position of being able to combine donated skills and funding with the ownership of the hospital to help us achieve that."
McLennan said there had been a massive 162 percent increase in referrals to the free surgery programme.
The trust also funded a range of other charitable activities including scholarships, health sector capability building and medical research, all underpinned by an equity and access lens.
Donations aiding the trust came from the Clare Foundation, the DV Bryant Trust and the Glenice and John Gallagher Foundation.
McLennan said the number of surgeries, the increase in surgeries and the amount spent on them were a testament to a strong vision combined with generous support from clinicians, staff, other volunteers, and donors and funders.
In total $230,000 was spent by the trust on all its charitable activities in the year to March, four scholarships were funded for University of Waikato students and funders pledged $318,000 to the trust's work.
Already in the first two months of this year, McLennan said the trust had spent $20,000 on 37 free surgeries and procedures, through specialists adding free surgeries to the existing lists of patients they were operating on at Braemar Hospital or through procedures provided at community based hauora days.
She said the trust recently launched an online "shop" with a menu of surgical procedures so donors could pay for a specific free surgery for a patient in need.
The Trust was planning another full day of free surgeries on 13 September.
Referrals were made through GPs, specialists, nurse practitioners, dentists and front-line community groups.
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