Braemar Charitable Trust will provide free surgeries for up to 70 people in November as part of its long-running Community Surgery Programme.
The Trust owns Hamilton’s Braemar Hospital, and with donated time from surgeons and anaesthetists, funds free community surgeries for people in need. For the first time, Braemar Hospital will open theatres on Saturdays specifically for these free community surgeries. On Saturday 9 or Saturday 23 November, dozens of adults and children needing minor surgeries will have procedures.
Braemar Charitable Trust provides a range of charitable activities aimed at improving health in the Waikato region. Under its Community Surgery Programme, free surgeries already take place out in the community or at Braemar Hospital as part of existing operating lists or dedicated charitable half day lists, but this is the first time surgical theatres will open on Saturdays for this purpose.
Braemar Charitable Trust Manager Paula Baker says the two full days of free surgeries on a weekend is a massive logistical undertaking, involving staff and volunteers. Many surgeons and anaesthetists who are credentialed to work at Braemar Hospital donate their time for free. Braemar Hospital provides consumable items at cost, and the Trust covers other costs such as surgical items, consumables, drugs and nursing staffing.
Ms Baker says the Trust has been overwhelmed by the response to the call for volunteers to support the two days. “It’s been an absolutely massive response including 35 surgeons and anaesthetists, 50 Braemar Hospital clinical staff, 20 other staff and friends of Braemar, plus dentists, suppliers, Braemar Trust scholarship recipients and more. We have even had offers of help from Waikato Hospital nurses, which tells you how much people value the work we are doing.”
The ANZ Staff Foundation and Hamilton’s Glenice and John Gallagher Foundation have provided grants to help with hospital consumable costs relating to the two community surgery days. “We are so glad to have supporters who understand that a financial contribution enables people in our community to have these procedures and get on with their lives,” Ms Baker says.
Referrals for the free community surgeries are mainly coming through Waikato Hospital. It’s expected some of the recipients will have been on public surgery waiting lists for some time or may have been previously declined; others will have unmet or unseen need due to barriers in accessing a GP for a referral. Patients are being chosen in line with Waikato Hospital and Te Whatu Ora referral processes, including reviewing patient waiting times and needs.
The Braemar Charitable Trust Community Surgery Programme has been in place for years, covering specialties such as paediatric dental, plastic, oral and general surgeries. It is aimed at helping people who have been declined or are facing considerable wait times for surgery in the public system, and who do not have health insurance, ACC nor the financial means to pay for private treatment.
Surgeons and anaesthetists usually provide their free procedures by either adding patients to an existing private list they are already performing at Braemar Hospital, or they provide a dedicated half-day community surgery list, and occasionally perform the surgeries at community sites. Four theatres are expected to be open on the two Saturdays, two for paediatric procedures and two for procedures for adults.
November’s surgeries will include paediatric dental; day stay minor plastic surgeries such as painful lipomas or ganglion cysts; general surgery procedures such as PR bleeding/haemorrhoid banding; endoscopies and colonoscopies; children’s general surgery and ENT procedures such as grommets, tonsils and adenoids. Midland Cardiovascular Services, based at Braemar Hospital, will provide free echocardiograms for some patients and Trinity Koha Dental Services will have three mobile dental clinics on site, provide free dental care for about 40 people.
In addition to the procedures above, it is thought up to 70 people will be helped on the surgery days, adding to the 52 free community surgeries already performed this calendar year to the end of August 2024. During the November Community Surgery Days, about 20 surgeons and anaesthetists who are credentialed to work at Braemar Hospital will donate their time alongside many other Hospital staff and supporters of the Trust who want to help.
Ms Baker says some specialists have applied to be credentialed to work at Braemar specifically so they can support the Trust in its charitable work. “Braemar Hospital has the broadest range of surgical specialties and of course the community surgeries we can perform won’t align with all the specialties. Our specialists are great at either donating their time for those surgeries we can provide and they also help in other ways including through providing advice or professional development.”
She says the Hospital’s contribution to the surgery days is invaluable. “This is a big undertaking and we are very grateful for the support of Braemar Hospital – we will have additional staff working over the weekends who would normally have time off, and that’s everyone from nurses and anaesthetic technicians to those who sterilise equipment, organise the cleaning and catering, and admin and reception staff. We are very lucky to have such strong supporters in Hospital management and staff and we really value their contribution.”
Ms Baker says the Trust has a wide range of activities it funds and runs, all with the ultimate aim of advancing healthcare equity and access and helping boost health outcomes in the Waikato region. It provides free surgeries, scholarships, health sector capability building and pays for medical research in the region among other things.
“People don’t know a lot about us but we are the sole owner of Braemar Hospital and we’ve been working steadily in the background for years enabling access that’s vital to improving health outcomes.
“We encourage everyone to think about how they can help us help the region – this could be through donations to our Trust, suppliers gifting items, or people giving time to help us.”
