Hospital leads recovery scheme

Tauranga Hospital is leading the midlands region in a new programme expected to drastically reduce recovery times for bowel surgery patients.

The Enhanced Recovery After Surgery programme is to begin next month but some patients have already started their recovery under the new scheme.

After Bay of Plenty and Waikato district health boards launch the programme in September, it will be taken up by Taranaki, Lakes and Tairawhiti district health boards, which make up the midlands region.

Project manager of surgical services Wendy Carey said the programme, originally developed in Denmark, would greatly reduce a patient's stay in hospital after a bowel resection.

A patient could begin eating the day of their surgery andwalk around two days later.

"The benefit for patients is that they feel better quicker," Ms Carey said.

The Ministry of Health provided a total of $1.4 million for the programme, which would be rolled out nationwide.

The Bay of Plenty District Health Board received $445,000 at the beginning of the year to cover the first 15 months of the programme.