The hospital did twice the number of free operations it performed last year and cleared the waiting list at Dunedin Hospital.
Otago District Health Board group manager Dr Colleen Coop said Dunedin Hospital was struggling with a shortage of anaesthetists which restricted its capacity to perform surgeries.
The free grommet operations had come as an unexpected but much appreciated surprise, Dr Coop said.
This was a fabulous effort, she added.
Twenty operations were completed yesterday and 20 the day before.
Mother Carolyn Lungley, of East Taieri, said her 3-year-old daughter had been on the waiting list at Dunedin Hospital for five months and it was ‘‘just wonderful'' to get the operation done before winter.
The constant ear infections had affected the toddler's hearing, speech and balance, kept her awake at night and meant she was frequently on antibiotics.
Mercy Hospital mission coordinator Dr Janice McDrury said doctors, hospital staff and charity organisations had pulled together to make the $60,000 project happen for the second consecutive year.
‘‘It has been quite a collaborative effort.''
Doctors had donated their time to do the operations at a reduced rate, charitable organisations had given money and Mercy Hospital staff had undertaken fund-raising for the project, with one nurse tackling a sponsored bike ride on Central Otago Rail Trail.
It seemed to be something that captured the imagination of people who wanted to contribute to the cause, Dr McDrury told the Otago Daily Times.
The 40 children who received the operations ranged in age from 1-11, but most were preschoolers.
‘‘It is a busy couple of days but there is a lot of really positive feeling about it at the end,'' Dr McDrury said.
- A grommet is a small bobbin-shaped tube used to keep open an incision made in the ear drum.
The ‘‘relatively simple'' procedure generally takes about 15 minutes.
