Counties Manukau Health General Surgery

Public Service, General Surgery, Bariatric (Weight Loss) Surgery

Description

The General Surgical Department at Counties Manukau Health deals with a wide range of conditions within the abdomen, breast, neck, skin, vascular (blood vessel) system and endocrine (endocrine glands and the hormones they release) system. Trauma (physical injury) surgery is also performed at this hospital.

In many cases, these conditions cross over into other medical specialties, and often doctors from surgical and medical teams will work together to diagnose and treat a patient’s problems. This is particularly true when considering disorders of the breast, endocrine system, gut, and liver.

While the name would suggest that the focus of general surgery is to perform operations, often this is not the case. Many patients are referred to surgeons with conditions that do not need surgical procedures, but merely require counselling or medical treatment.

The Team

The leader of the general surgical team is a consultant (specialist) general surgeon. When you are referred to a clinic or admitted to hospital you will be assigned to one specific consultant. However, consultants often work in teams of two or three, and to some extent your care may be shared between these consultants.

Other medical members of the team include the registrar(s). These are fully qualified doctors who are now training to become specialists. The house surgeons are doctors who have usually qualified more recently, in the last 1-2 years.

General Surgery Services Provided by Counties Manukau Health
General Surgery services are provided at Middlemore Hospital, Manukau SuperClinic™ and Manukau Surgery Centre.

Consultants

Mr David Adams

General Surgeon
Mr Richard Babor

General, Upper GI and Bariatric Surgeon
Dr Magdalena Biggar

Breast, Endocrine and General Surgeon
A/Prof Matthew Clark

General Surgeon
Mr Andrew Connolly

General Surgeon
Mr Andrew Hill

General Surgeon
Mr Lincoln Israel

General Surgeon
Mr Andrew MacCormick

General, Laparoscopic, Upper GI and Bariatric Surgeon
Mr Giri Mahadevan

Vascular Surgeon
Mr Jon Morrow

General, Bariatric & Laparoscopic Surgeon
Mr David Moss

General, Breast and Endocrine Surgeon, Head of Department
Ms Sze-Lin Peng

General Surgeon
Mr Garth Poole

General Surgeon
Mr Habib Rahman

General Surgeon
Dr Stephanie Ulmer

General and Bariatric Surgeon
Mrs Jenny Wagener

Breast and General Surgeon, Deputy Head of Department
Dr Maree Weston

General and Colorectal Surgeon, Deputy Head of Department

Referral Expectations

If you have an urgent problem requiring immediate surgical assessment you are referred acutely to the General Surgical Department where you will initially seen by the junior medical staff who will decide whether you need to be admitted to hospital. Investigations will be performed as required, and the more senior members of the team involved where necessary.

If the problem is not urgent, the GP will write a letter to the Surgical Department requesting an appointment in the outpatient clinic. Waiting times for the clinics depend on the urgency of each case. Urgency is assessed from the information in the GP's referral letter.

When you come to the outpatient clinic you will be seen by a member of the surgical team who will ask questions about your illness and examine you to try to determine or confirm the diagnosis. This process may also require a number of tests (e.g. blood tests, x-rays, scans etc). Sometimes this can all be done during one clinic visit, but for some conditions this will take several follow-up appointments. Occasionally some tests are arranged even before you are seen at the hospital to try to speed up the process.

Once a diagnosis has been made, the medical staff will discuss treatment with you. In some instances this will mean surgery, while other cases can be managed with medication and advice. If surgery is advised you will be put on the elective surgical waiting list. Again these waiting lists are ordered according to the urgency and severity of the condition. The steps involved in the surgical process and the likely outcome are usually discussed with you at this time.

In order to minimise the amount of time of that you have to spend in hospital, many surgical departments run a preadmission process. This is usually done through a clinic where you are seen prior to hospital admission. The aim of this clinic is to confirm that you still need to have the planned surgery and that you are currently fit and well enough to undergo the operation. This process usually involves the junior medical staff working in consultation with the anaesthetists, pharmacists, physiotherapists etc. Often the consultant surgeon will also take this opportunity to review your condition.

Outpatient clinics are run at Manukau SuperClinic™.

Charges

There are no charges for services to public patients if you are lawfully in New Zealand and meet one of the Eligibility Directions specified criteria set by the Ministry of Health.
If you do not meet the criteria, you will be required to pay for the full costs of any medical treatment you receive during your stay.

To check whether you meet the specified eligibility criteria, visit the Ministry of Health website.

For any applicable charges, please phone the Accounts Receivable Office on (09) 276 0060.

Common Conditions / Procedures / Treatments

Bariatric Surgery

Welcome to the official website for the CM Health Bariatric Service. … More
Breast Disorders

General surgery covers breast diseases including breast cancer. These conditions are often initially dealt with in a specialised breast clinic which is able to perform a number of investigations [e.g.… More
Endocrine Disorders

Abnormalities of the endocrine system treated by general surgery include disorders of the pancreas and adrenal glands in the abdomen and the thyroid and parathyroid glands in the neck. These are often very complex conditions requiring extensive investigations.… More
Gastrointestinal Disorders

Conditions of the gut dealt with by general surgery include disorders of the oesophagus, stomach, small bowel, large bowel and anus.… More
Hernias

A hernia exists where part of the abdominal wall is weakened, and the contents of the abdomen push through to the outside.… More
Liver and Biliary System Disorders

General surgery covers disorders of the liver and biliary system.… More
Salivary Gland Disorders

Disorders of the salivary glands may be dealt with by the General Surgical Department or the ENT (ORL) Department depending on the local policy. More
Skin Disorders

Skin conditions dealt with by general surgery include lumps, tumours and other lesions of the skin and underlying tissues.… More
Vascular Surgery

Vascular Surgery is a surgical subspecialty that deals with all diseases that can affect the arteries and veins.… More

Visiting Hours

Restricted Visiting Policy

To protect patients, whaanau and staff, public access to our hospitals and units will continue to be only on essential (such as carer education to support discharge) or compassionate grounds (such as for critically unwell or palliative care cases) during Alert Level 2.

Click here for more information.