Don't squander our hard-earned mana

By HARVEY WHITE*

The debate over the proposed renaming of the Starship Children's Hospital at Grafton has highlighted the enormous importance of branding to patients, hospital staff and the public.

The Auckland District Health Board has also signalled its intention to strip the name of Green Lane Hospital from inpatient cardiovascular and respiratory services - which have made Green Lane world-famous - when those services are moved to the Auckland Hospital site later this year.

This decision will be bad for the health of Aucklanders and all New Zealanders.

Other commentators have argued the case for retaining the names of the Starship and National Women's Hospitals, but the case has not yet been publicly made for the retention of the Green Lane Hospital name in association with inpatient cardiovascular and respiratory services. To fully appreciate the mana of the Green Lane Hospital name, we must consider the achievements that have made it a world icon.

In 1850 Governor Sir George Grey allocated land at Green Lane, on the outskirts of the growing township of Auckland, for a hospital. The Costley Home was opened on the site in 1890 to house the "aged poor", and subsequently expanded into a TB sanitorium and infirmary.

In 1942 Peter Fraser renamed the infirmary Green Lane Hospital, and open-chest surgery was introduced soon afterwards. Within a generation, Green Lane evolved from a benevolent hospital for the poor into a general hospital with national and international recognition in the fields of cardiovascular and respiratory medicine and surgery.

This illustrious reputation has been hard-earned by numerous individuals from different disciplines, whose teamwork has produced groundbreaking advances in medical science.

Green Lane was one of the first hospitals in the world to perform heart bypass surgery, and introduced innovations such as the injection of dye into the heart to allow X-ray imaging of cardiac structure and function, the development of pacemakers, anaesthesia for complex heart surgery on adults and babies, and pioneering work by Sir Brian Barratt-Boyes in the fields of heart valve surgery and paediatric heart surgery.

In 1962 the world's first aortic valve replacement operation was performed by Sir Brian at Green Lane Hospital. The patient was a 14-year-old girl, and it was the first time that any major heart surgery had been performed in New Zealand.

It was described as a masterpiece of original thinking, meticulous planning and perfect execution; a breakthrough in technology had occurred. This operation revolutionised the treatment of valvular heart disease.

In 1969 Sir Brian devised the technique of profound hypothermia, in which the body temperature of babies is cooled to reduce the nutritional needs of the brain, so that the heart can be arrested and operated upon without causing brain damage.

The development of dilator drugs to maintain the circulation and improve the survival chances of newborn babies was also pioneered at Green Lane.

In more recent years, Green Lane has been at the forefront of international collaborative research into the treatment of heart attacks, which have had a substantial impact in reducing the commonest cause of death for men and women.

Major contributions have been made to the development of new treatments to dissolve blood clots that cause heart attacks, to prevent stretching of heart attack scars, and to reduce raised cholesterol levels.

All this research has involved interdisciplinary collaboration between Green Lane staff and colleagues at the University of Auckland and at other hospitals in Auckland and throughout New Zealand. Much more research remains to be done.

For almost half a century, the Green Lane name has been a world-renowned symbol of excellence in patient care. It has also been a rewarding place to work, with a warm and caring atmosphere, and legions of doctors, nurses and technicians have trained there.

The esprit de corps at Green Lane has continued to attract health professionals from all over the world to teach, study, work and contribute to the New Zealand health system. Because of Green Lane's international reputation, many New Zealanders have been able to obtain top jobs and training overseas, and have brought those skills home.

All New Zealanders should be immensely proud of what has been achieved at Green Lane. The hospital's staff are strongly committed to carrying on this fine tradition, and are appreciative of the support they have received from the public.

Many staff would very much like to retain the Green Lane name, and the spirit it embodies, when Green Lane's inpatient cardiovascular and respiratory services move to the Auckland Hospital site.

Such excellence and commitment not only assure the best possible results for patients but also produce the best value for money. Second-grade services are a luxury that New Zealand cannot afford.

Overseas researchers with whom I have corresponded are aghast that the district health board would even consider renaming the services that have made Green Lane a household name throughout the world.

The loss of the Green Lane name would have serious disadvantages for these services, including increasing academic isolation of healthcare professionals, loss of patient identification with the Green Lane brand, and the consequent disincentive against donations from benefactors.

International reputations and respect are hard-earned, and the advantages they bring should not be so carelessly squandered.

* Professor Harvey White is president of the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand.