Our campus in Christchurch boasts 10 operating theatres, including two hi-tech digital theatres and the 'da Vinci®' system for robotically assisted surgery. Independent medical specialists operating and consulting on the site benefit from advanced scanning and imaging technologies and consulting centres located on-site. A purpose-built endoscopy centre - Southern Endoscopy Centre - is one of the largest of its kind in New Zealand.

One operating theatre recently commissioned is jointly managed to enable the hospital to offer elective surgical services to publicly funded patients.  Advanced CT scanners and the latest sterilisation systems are amongst other facilities on the site.

Higher dependency care

Southern Cross Hospital's High Dependency Care (HDC) unit is a 6-bed, purpose-built section of the private hospital designed with intensive care unit (ICU) capabilities. The unit was opened with the aim of offering the best possible provisions for patient safety and care.

High Dependency Care provides for a higher margin of safety for complex patients. By putting all such patients in one area of the hospital and having sophisticated equipment and processes readily at hand, the hospital is able to provide better monitoring and better management for those patients.

The facilities embrace the latest technology, and enable the clinical teams to further enhance the level of monitoring and management for patients who may need it as part of their post-operative recovery.

Advanced hybrid operating room

Southern Cross Hospitals has recently installed one of the most advanced and flexible hybrid theatre facilities in the private sector, and it is now operational in its hospital in Christchurch.

The new hybrid system allows for pre-operative and post-operative imaging to be carried out in the theatre, reducing the need to transfer the patient to another room for diagnostics.

In addition. the new theatre set-up allows systems to be positioned as the surgical teams require - allowing more space for clinicians, less interference with anaesthesia set-ups, and better patient access for the surgical teams.

Robotically-assisted surgery

Surgeons performing prostate surgery and gynaecological procedures at Southern Cross Hospital in Christchurch were some of the first in the country to make use of the ‘da Vinci® robot’ for robotically-assisted surgery.

The hospital upgraded its da Vinci® robotic system in 2013 - offering credentialed surgeons access to an advanced system which enables a range of surgical procedures to be performed through very small incisions. The latest da Vinci® system upgrade enabled improved vision optics and surgeon controls which enable a wider range of operations.

Robotically-assisted surgical techniques, known as minimally invasive surgery, have the potential to reduce pain and recovery times for patients while enhancing the surgeon’s already precise skills. There are approximately 500 da Vinci® systems in use around the world, including systems installed in Southern Cross hospitals in New Zealand.

Advanced technologies

In addition to robotically assisted surgery, the hospital has invested in Positron Emission Tomography (PET), Computerised Tomography (CT), and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) technologies.

Southern Cross Hospital Christchurch, more than most private hospitals, has made being at the forefront of high-technology surgical services an important priority. Specialists and patients can access a full range of hi-tech diagnostic imaging, including MRI, CT and PET. A PET/CT scanner, brought into the hospital by Christchurch Radiology Group can assist with cancer diagnosis.