Story By: Pandora Bevan

The population of the South Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu has very limited access to specialist medical attention. For more than 15 years, ENT surgeon Dr Roger Grigg AM has been volunteering his skills to treat local people needing ear, nose or throat surgery. In February, St Vincent’s Hospital Clinical Nurse Cathy Whyte accompanied Dr Grigg on a 7-day trip to Port Vila, Vanuatu, with an ENT surgical team.

Organised by the Royal Australian College of Surgeons (RACS) with support from the Australian Government, the Pacific Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) Project aims to provide patients access to specialist surgery thanks to a volunteer surgical team.

Dr Grigg led the ENT Project team comprising two surgeons, one anaesthetist, two theatre nurses and one audiologist from Australia and New Zealand. Their goal was to ensure as many patients as possible had access to safe and high-quality ENT surgery, which is not available in Vanuatu.

One hundred ninety-seven patients were assessed in the outpatient ENT clinic, many of whom had travelled from surrounding islands for medical care. Thirty-one of those patients then underwent ENT surgery at the Port Vila Central Hospital, which provides health services to a population of over 80,000.

The team worked 12-hour days to see the 197 patients through the pre-surgical clinic. This was the first ENT Project since 2019, as COVID-19 had stopped the annual visit for a number of years.

“The warm climate in Vanuatu meant we saw lots of ear disease. Thyroid disease is also quite common,” Nurse Cathy Whyte said. “We performed a number of basic grommet procedures that aren’t normally available in Port Vila.”

Dr Grigg performed complex surgeries in the Port Vila Hospital, including saving the life of a young girl. “We saw many complicated ear and neck patients, but one in particular stands out,” Dr Grigg said. “An 11-year- old girl with a history of ear infections presented partially unconscious from an advanced ear infection that was spreading inside her brain.

“It required an urgent operation to drain the infection and remove the underlying abnormality. If our team was not present, she would have probably died within a few days,” he said.

Dr Grigg and Cathy have been working together since 1999. 2024 marked over 15 years since Dr Grigg embarked on his first visit to Vanuatu. Cathy has travelled on five ENT projects throughout the past ten years.

Over the years, Dr Grigg and Cathy have taken donations of medical equipment and theatre consumables overseas. They have also run training and education sessions for the Port Vila Hospital staff.

Cathy emphasised that the nurses in Port Vila were extremely knowledgeable despite not having access to the quality medical equipment we have here in Australia.

“The most rewarding part of volunteering on these trips is the appreciation we receive from the local community. They are the kindest, most beautiful people, and to be able to help them means so much to me,” Cathy said.