One of the things I love most about working with Well Foundation is seeing what can happen when our community backs great ideas in our hospitals. Over the past three years, philanthropic funding secured by Well Foundation from the Bruce McMillan Fellowship through Perpetual Guardian has supported an important research programme investigating serious infections following joint replacement surgery. Joint replacements can be life-changing for people living with severe arthritis – restoring mobility, independence and quality of life. But when an artificial joint becomes infected, the impact can be significant. Patients may face further surgery, long hospital stays and extended courses of antibiotics.

The research team, based at North Shore Hospital, has been working to better understand who is most at risk, which treatments are most likely to succeed and which antibiotics may be most effective. The result is now one of the largest and most comprehensive datasets of joint replacement infections of its kind internationally. The research is already providing valuable insights. Data indicate that cleaning an infected joint while retaining the artificial joint, alongside antibiotic treatment, is successful in approximately half of hip and knee infection cases. Information like this can help clinicians make more informed treatment decisions, potentially reducing repeat surgery, lengthy hospital stays and improving recovery for patients. It is really exciting to learn where this work is heading next.

The North Shore team is now participating in ROADMAP (RandOmised Arthroplasty infection worlDwide Multidomain Adaptive Platform), a major international trial involving 39 hospitals across five countries. North Shore Hospital was the first New Zealand site approved to take part and has already recruited six patients. The strength of the research has also helped secure $1.5 million in Health Research Council funding, allowing the work to continue beyond Well Foundation’s initial three-year investment.

For me, this is a wonderful example of philanthropy working exactly as it should. Our community helped give talented clinicians and researchers the opportunity to test an idea, build the evidence and attract further investment. What began as a locally supported research project is now contributing knowledge that could help improve care for patients in New Zealand and around the world. That is something our whole community can be proud of.

Well Foundation is the official charity of North Shore and Waitākere Hospitals
09 447 0138, info@wellfoundation.org.nz 
wellfoundation.org.nz