This year Cure Day Hospitals again lived out their “C” for Compassion in their Cure values and participated in a community initiative for Mandela Day.
The theme for this year’s Mandela Day was “The Legacy Lives Through You”. This year Cure partnered with Paarl Provincial Hospital and Smith+Nephew to assist children with tonsillectomy procedures.
According to Liezl Muller, Marketing & PR Manager at Cure Day Hospitals in Paarl, eight patients deemed suitable and in desperate need of tonsillectomy and adenoid procedures were identified by Paarl Hospital. Smith+Nephew sponsored the coblation wand, which means a minimally invasive, low-thermal technology for effective dissection and removal of tissue.
Muller explained coblation technology has been used for ear, nose and throat (ENT) procedures, such as tonsillectomy, turbinate reduction, laryngeal lesion debulking and soft palate.
While conventional electrosurgical devices use high temperatures to remove and cut tissue, coblation technology creates a controlled, stable plasma field to remove tissue precisely at a low relative temperature, resulting in minimal thermal damage to surrounding soft tissues.
Because the use of a coblation wand is not known to all ENT specialists, Cure Paarl and Smith and Nephew also invited medical professionals to attend the procedures for educational purposes.
Drs Grobbelaar and Naude performed the operations and come with a wealth of experience. Grobbelaar is head of the ENT Department at Stellenbosch University and Tygerberg Hospital and Naude the senior Otorhinolaryngologist for UCT at the Red Cross Childrens Hospital.
Ureshnee Moodley, Business Unit Director at Smith+Nephew, said the company’s involvement in this initiative with Cure Paarl gave them the opportunity to help kids.
“Believing a happy child means happier parents, the ability to provide leading ENT technology to help patients return to a normal lifestyle was the sole aim of the Smith+ Nephew team,” Moodley said.
Cure Paarl also thanked Smith +Nephew, Drs Grobbelaar and Naude, Safeline, Dr West, Paarl Provincial Hospitals’ Anaesthetist, and Cure Paarl nursing staff for their contribution and time, making this project a success.
