THE first round of surgeries under the recently established Aboriginal Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) surgical program at St John of God Midland Public and Private Hospitals (SJGMPPH) recently took place.

While there are a range of specialist ear, nose and throat and audiology services in the Perth metropolitan area and in rural and remote locations, access to services can be problematic given the costs involved to access private services, the long wait lists for public services, and a general lack of availability of specialist services in some rural and remote locations.

The aim of the Midland Aboriginal ENT surgical program is to address these issues by enabling access to dedicated, culturally appropriate ENT surgical services for Aboriginal children at the hospital.

Surgeries to be undertaken as part of the program include tonsillectomies, insertion of grommets and adenoidectomies.

The first round of surgeries saw four cases and a second surgery session is already being scheduled for November.

The program is a partnership with a range of service providers to provide support to children and their families accessing the service.

Key partners include Cockburn Integrated Health and ENT surgeon Dr Phil Sale, along with support from East Metropolitan Health Service, Child and Adolescent Health Services and Moorditj Koort Aboriginal Corporation.

SJGMPPH chief executive officer Paul Dyer said the hospital was delighted to introduce the Aboriginal ENT surgical program.

“This is aimed at assisting Aboriginal families and their children in accessing essential surgical procedures that can have a profound impact upon quality of life,” he said.

“Positive community outcomes are generally the result of a collective effort and this is very much the case here.

“An enormous thanks to all of those involved and, of course our medical, admission, theatre and ward caregivers who made this possible operationally.”