Dr Mahendra Meta with two colleagues
Greenslopes Private Hospital surgeon
changing lives in India
Orthopaedic surgeon Dr Mahendra Meta has returned home from a trip to India, where
he volunteered his time to help patients unable to afford surgery.
Dr Meta visited the area of Junagadh,
completing 60 knee replacement
surgeries on nearby residents suffering
from severe knee arthritis.
“How deeply you touch another life
is how rich your life is. After knee
replacements there is usually an 80%
satisfaction rate, but if you look at these
people, I don’t think you’d find anyone
unhappy,” Dr Meta said.
Patients travel as far 200 kilometres to
receive the surgery from Dr Meta, which
is paid for by donations.
The Greenslopes surgeon received
his orthopaedic training in India and
his former colleagues, who own a
private practice, collected a database
of patients for him to treat when he
returned to his home country.
Police perform for Greenslopes community
The Queensland Police Pipes and Drums group (QPP&D) has visited
Greenslopes Private Hospital to perform in the main foyer for
patients, visitors and staff.
QPP&D is dedicated to strengthening and maintaining positive
relationship between police and the people of Queensland through
musical performance and community engagement.
As well as visiting hospitals, the group also plays at nursing homes,
retirement villages, schools and youth clubs - working with other
police districts and various groups in the areas of community
engagement and crime prevention.
10 | GPH News – May 2019
In some cases, the conditions had
become so advanced, patients were
unable to walk and many surgeons in
India weren’t willing to perform surgery
on them.
“It’s fantastic to help because otherwise
they can’t have the surgery. Many public
hospitals in India don’t have funding for
the implants. So, the surgery is free, but
they still need to pay for the implants,
which is really why we started doing
this,” Dr Meta said.
During the trip, Dr Meta also trained
local surgeons in advancements and
new technologies in relation to knee
replacement surgery which are available
to orthopaedic surgeons.
“The benefit was twofold: I did all those
cases for the patients and it was a
teaching and academic exchange.
I showed them some new techniques
I’ve been doing in Australia,” Dr Meta
said.
Dr Meta has been returning to India to
help, since he moved to Australia in
2006. During some of his trips, adults
he treated as children with severe
deformities have returned to the city to
show their gratitude to him.
“It’s such a joy when patients return to
say thank you and you can see how far
they’ve come and how much their life
has changed,” Dr Meta said.
In addition to performing hip and knee
replacement surgeries, Dr Meta is
assisting in developing and expanding
paediatric orthopaedic surgical services
at Greenslopes Private Hospital.