How your impact helps children across Aotearoa NZ

This past year has been a relentless one for Starship, with a 25% increase on last year of children coming to the Emergency Department and a 9% increase on Air Ambulance retrievals.

7,711 more visits to Starship’s Emergency Department, a 25% increase on last year.

What we raised and where it went

Your support helps transform the lives of sick and injured children in Aotearoa New Zealand.

This year, you’ve helped our medical teams reach the next level, to go above and beyond, to do the extra training, get the extra piece of equipment, or fund the breakthrough research that might otherwise stall or never begin, were it not for your support.

From running a marathon or shaving your head, leaving a lasting legacy as a gift in your Will, giving a major gift, supporting Starship in your workplace, regularly giving each month, sewing Santa sacks or sending in Christmas toys, thank you for all the many ways you’ve helped support Starship.

Every dollar counts. Every dollar helps.

Through your donations, we were able to fund $13,011,507 towards:

• Starship’s Air Ambulance

• Clinical Pathways

• Douglas Starship Simulation Programme

• Technologies for diagnosing and discovering paediatric neurogenetic disease

• Developing comprehensive Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) service at Starship

• Supporting staff with hauora wellbeing initiatives

• Testicular tissue cryopreservation project

• Podcasts developed and produced by the Douglas Starship Simulation team
  

• Optimising approach to newborn screening of preterm babies

• A whānau completed tool to improve inpatient hospital experience for tamariki with neurodevelopmental disorders

• Multi-agency investigation into gonorrhoea in prepubertal children

• Vaccine effectiveness study on Varicella Zoster (Chickenpox)

• Among many projects, you have helped fund research into childhood obesity, type 1 diabetes, gene discovery in paediatric neurogenetic disease and Inflammatory Bowel Disease

• Neonatal mattresses and controllers

• Secondary activity limbs for paediatric amputees

• Premature and newborn baby bundles

• Furniture for the Haematology and Oncology ward

• Lazy boys for Oncology

• The ongoing extension of the refurbishment of PICU - Starship’s Paediatric Intensive Care Unit, with the addition of 10 new bed spaces and 45% increase in capacity

• Outpatient refurbishment

• Children’s Emergency Department refreshed

• Buzzybee injection devices

• Feeding tube backpacks

• Paediatric walking frames

• Puberty books

• Therapy equipment

• Therapy toys

• Toys for distraction in audiology clinic

Your generosity also helped support these Starship initiatives

• Simulation Training
  The Douglas Starship Simulation Team trains medical professionals at hospitals all over Aotearoa New Zealand, using lifelike child mannequins to teach new or uncommon treatments and techniques.

• Starship Clinical Guidelines
  These guidelines were viewed 2,356,914 million times in 2022-2023, providing healthcare professionals around Aotearoa New Zealand and overseas with in-depth instructions on how to treat a range of childhood illness and injuries.

• Telehealth
  Children and families receive Starship care by videoconference, meaning they are supported to thrive and reach their potential in their own communities.

• Starship On-Call
  For healthcare professionals treating children with acute needs, chronic conditions, or complex presentations, Starship advice and expertise is just a call away.

• Training & Education
  Helping child health professionals across Aotearoa New Zealand build skills and
  capacity to deliver the best care and treatment possible for our tamariki.

• Safekids Aotearoa
  Safekids Aotearoa uses training, events, print, video, and social media to help whānau identify safety hazards around the home, including campaigns focused on falls prevention, helmet safety, choking prevention and injuries from objects.

Read the full Impact Report 2022-2023 here