RESUMO
AIM: To update activities of the Canterbury Charity Hospital (CCH) and its Trust over the eight-year period 2013 to end of 2020, following previous reports in 2010 and 2013. METHOD: CCH continued to provide free secondary elective healthcare services to some patients in the Canterbury Distinct Health Board (CDHB) region who were unable to access healthcare they needed through public hospitals and were unable to pay for private care. CCH's services were supplied by a large volunteer workforce, supported by a skeleton staff, and were financed solely by charitable giving. Changes occurred periodically in the quantity and nature of regional unmet healthcare need, largely due to changes in services provided by the CDHB. In order to accommodate these changes, major structural and infrastructural developments were necessitated at CCH. RESULTS: Many healthcare services at CCH remained the same as before this period but new changes occurred there as a result of: (i) establishment of a flexible sigmoidoscopy day clinic for the management of fresh rectal bleeding in those under 50 years of age; (ii) requirement for a sudden increase in counselling services immediately after the terror attacks at Christchurch mosques; (iii) expansion of the Dental and Oral Surgery Service; and (iv) interruption of CCH service provision by the COVID-19 pandemic. CONCLUSIONS: CCH continued to fill some of the regional unmet elective healthcare need. This is, however, a national problem as attested by the presence of a charity hospital in Auckland and another being planned for Invercargill. Hopefully present and future governments will appreciate that free universal access to secondary elective healthcare is not only a humane imperative, but also a sound economic investment.
