BOPDHB History Tauranga Hospital Centennial Book | Page 16

Hugh Lees, Consultant Paediatrician
There’s no doubt the Children’s Ward at Tauranga
Hospital has become much more family friendly and
children stay for shorter lengths of time compared to
the past. Changes in mortality rates from infection have
improved for children too, says Hugh who started at
Tauranga Hospital as a House Doctor in 1978.
“An increase in survival rates in children suffering
leukaemia and cystic fibrosis are two of the most
significant advances I’ve seen since I started. Children
who suffered from leukaemia really didn’t have much
chance of surviving the disease back then but now their
rate of survival is between 80 and 90 per cent. This is
largely due to studies and research into the disease. All
children who suffered leukaemia would be entered into
a study so the children who suffer from it today and are
surviving now, stand on the shoulders of the children
who have gone before them,” says Hugh.
“Similarly children with cystic fibrosis would have
typically lived only into late childhood and now they can
expect to survive into adulthood due to advancements
in knowledge and fine tuning of treatment. There’s been
much more determination to understand the disease
better.”
Hugh also points to survival of pre-mature babies being
much more likely than in the past. “They survive more
and they survive better with fewer problems later on in
life.”
Hugh is optimistic about the future for paediatrics
and in particular the knowledge younger colleagues
are bringing to the table. “My younger colleagues are
inspiring. They are probably more thoroughly trained
than I was and more knowledgeable. The future for
paediatrics is certainly bright,” he says.

Children’s Ward 1940’s
Anonymous

Pale walls, polished floors,
Starchy-uniformed puppet-people smiling on cue;
Agony, of maternal leave-taking
Etched on the dear face,
Warm, familiar hand unclasped,
Waving….
Loneliness crowding out joy,
Enfolding my being,
My small, silent, well-behaved being,
Tentacles of fear and uncertainty
Probing the corridors of my mind…Mother!
Waving….
A blanket of silence, hospital smell,
Wide eyes in tiny faces
Staring from cold, steel cots,
Ghostly figures moving behind a cloudy shroud,
Unfriendly, distorted; oxygen softly
Hissing….
Night sucking the pale colour from dividing screens,
Doors closed against muffled sounds
Of trolley wheels clattering
Down distant wood-floored corridors,
Mother, Father, Sisters, Brothers,
Missing….
A vision of home, a sleepless dream
Escape plans forming in the childish mind
Hampered by physical inadequacy,
Stark fear of the smothering gloom, illness
Weeping….
Days and nights merging…. Eternity
Of waiting, listening for familiar steps,
Hugs and kisses, loving faces, fleetingly.
Self-reliance extracted like a painful tooth
From the bleeding mouth of necessity, acceptance.
Sleeping.

Did You Know?
New Zealand is one of only a few countries in the world
where Hospital Play Specialists are also required to be
Registered Early Childhood Teachers.

“Working with children allows the child within you to live on –
you can still be silly and crack jokes.”

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