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.