Welcome to MercyAscot

Every day, across all three of our sites (Mercy Hospital in Epsom; Ascot Hospital in Remuera, and our Endoscopy clinics in Epsom and in Takapuna, North Shore), more than 800 staff believe that delivering the best care possible means leaving no stone unturned. While every year, together with committed specialists of the highest calibre, we treat many thousands of patients with utmost care.

Who we are

Our Performance

Our leadership team

 

Our Vision

Our Hospitals

Our History

 Who we are

MercyAscot’s heritage goes back over 117 years to when Mercy Hospital started to provide healthcare services to the people of Auckland.  Located in Auckland, we operate across three sites: Mercy Hospital in Epsom; Ascot Hospital in Remuera; and our Endoscopy service based in Epsom and Takapuna, North Shore. MercyAscot is owned by parent company Healthcare Holdings Limited.

We are now one of New Zealand’s largest private surgical facilities, with 22 operating theatres, a high dependency unit and an intensive care unit.

What makes us the ‘right’ hospital?

Our excellent staff always strive to exceed patients’ expectations for the short time they are in our care.  We understand everything matters and an optimal patient experience is imperative.  In addition, over 190 of Auckland’s leading specialists choose to work with us for good reason – our outstanding patient care and customer service.

Commitment to quality

For MercyAscot, investing in highly skilled staff and cutting-edge technology is fundamental to exceptional patient care. In fact, it’s this whole-hearted commitment to quality that continues to attract over 190 of Auckland’s leading medical specialists to our hospitals. Together we are able to offer an extensive range of private surgical services.

A range of physicians also work at our hospitals, along with the MercyAscot Endoscopy facilities at Epsom and Takapuna, offer the complete range of diagnostic, complex therapeutic and palliative endoscopy procedures.

Our high standards of service and healthcare have been recognised by the ongoing award of accreditation status by Quality Health New Zealand. We are committed to continuous improvement through ongoing recognition and rewards for quality initiatives from our staff, and a three-yearly quality audit of our services (next interim audit is due in November 2023, and full certification audit in 2025).

Our approach to care

We believe that delivering the best care possible means leaving no stone unturned. Every one of our outstanding 650+ nursing team shares a steadfast commitment to the little things. 

For instance, we know the idea of surgery can make patients nervous – but knowing what to expect can make all the difference.  You can watch our Patient Experience video here for an in-depth look into what you can expect from your surgery with us - from start to finish. Patients are also welcome to get in touch with us at any time with questions they might have.

Supporting the complex

Some of our patients will need complex clinical care. Our highly-skilled staff operate an Intensive Care Unit, High Dependency Unit and a Cardiac Investigation Unit at our Epsom facility, Mercy Hospital, while at our Greenlane facility, Ascot Hospital, we operate a High Dependency Unit.

Our nurses work alongside specialists, physiotherapists, dietitians, pharmacists, speech and language therapists and on-site medical practitioners to provide superior post-operative care. Together they speed our patients’ recovery, returning them to their family doctor’s care as soon as possible.

One-stop diagnostic clinics

Our commitment to outstanding customer service has led us to partner with medical specialists and Mercy Radiology  to provide one-stop diagnostic clinics. Designed to remove the need for multiple appointments and eliminate delays in diagnosis, each clinic brings a team of specialists to the patient, so they leave with a diagnosis and treatment plan.

Ngā Rākau Turuturu – our human-centered nature of care

We are looking forward to your upcoming visit and stay with us. As part of our human-centered care that is deeply rooted in human connections, our staff will strive to ensure you are ‘seen’ for who you are, how you identify, and what unique care you might need. 

We call this Ngā Rākau Turuturu – the covenant of the weaving pegs.  

Our principles of care: 

  • We will listen to you and your family/support carers 
  • We will manaaki you, uplift and carry your spirit, your soul when required 
  • We will walk beside you – if you are struggling with anything, do not hesitate to ask anyone to help you 
  • We will show our heartwood – you will experience the versions of our staff their loved ones experience at home 

These principles woven together are the very fibres, the fabric your unique care plan will be held together by. Like any garment or korowai that is woven, your care plan requires two weaving pegs. We’ll always hold one and ask you to hold the other, so that we together can weave your unique care plan of recovery. 

If you have any questions about Ngā Rākau Turuturu, please don’t hesitate to ask our friendly staff, who will be happy to explain what this human-centered nature of care means for you as our patient and for us as your carers. 

Our Performance

Our Hand Hygiene

MercyAscot Hospital has been embedding the World Health Organisation (WHO) 5 Moments of Hand Hygiene (5HMM) into our clinical care since 2012. This model of hand hygiene is used in many health environments around the world, including New Zealand District Health Board hospitals. Each of the 5 Moments represent a key opportunity at which a healthcare professional should wash or alcohol gel their hands. 

To maintain our performance in this important area trained Gold Auditors conduct observational auditing on a regular basis to monitor compliance with the 5 Moments. MercyAscot has placed alcohol hand gel dispensers within every patient zone to enable our teams to correctly perform the 5MHH. We invite our patients, families and friends to participate in hand hygiene and also to encourage health professionals to practice good hand hygiene. Clean hands give safe care!

Our Patient Satisfaction

94% of patientswho responded to our patient satisfaction survey in 2022, have rated their overall experience as "excellent" or "very good".

Part of the MercyAscot vision is to provide excellent service and care so we really value feedback from our customers. That's why we send every patient a patient satisfaction survey to give them an opportunity to tell us about their experience.

Over all of 2022, 48% of our patients responded. This gives us a huge amount of feedback to drive improvement initiatives where they are needed and to celebrate success where our teams have really made a difference. Customer service is one of our core values and our patient's feedback helps us to continuously improve in this area.

Our Endoscopy Work

It is easy to claim expertise at a certain procedure but it takes time and effort to prove that standards are high and that there is a commitment to continuous improvement.

Our Endoscopy team has had an audit process since 2000 where performance is compared between peers. This has been an incentive to improve KPIs that are internationally recognised as measures of quality in colonoscopy. 

Colonoscopy - Caecal % completion rate

A high level of expertise is required to perform an entire colon examination and it is  essential to ensure that all pathology particularly cancers and polyps have been detected.  At MercyAscot, the completion rate of colonoscopies has increased from an average of 95% to  99.5%.  This means it is very uncommon to require another investigation such as CT colonography.

1=95% is recommended by the European Society of GI Endoscopy (ESGE) and the ASGE/ACG for screening colonoscopies

Polyp Detection

A major aim of colonoscopy is to detect and remove all polyps from the colon, a  proven means of preventing bowel cancer.  Higher levels of polyp detection are associated with very low rates of bowel cancer in the years following a colonoscopy.  

At MercyAscot, the rate of polyp detection has improved from 32% in 2000 to in 64%  2017. The detection of other important polyps (i.e adenomas and serrated polyps) has also significantly improved. 

Data Source:  MercyAscot Endoscopy Service Audit Results (from 2000 to 2017)

Our vision

MercyAscot:  New Zealand’s leading provider of health services – always delivered with excellence and value 

 

Mercy Hospital

Over the last century Mercy Hospital has grown from a small cottage hospital originally run by the Sisters of Mercy to the largest private surgical hospital in New Zealand. Mercy Hospital facilities include:

  • Seven operating rooms and 99 beds
  • Intensive Care Unit
  • High Dependency Unit
  • Coronary Care Unit
  • For more information about coming into Mercy Hospital click here 

Meet Our General Manager    On-site Services

How to find us   Mercy Hospital Redevelopment

 

Ascot hospital

Ascot Hospital opened in Auckland in 1999 providing modern and pristine surgical facilities. It was the first hospital in New Zealand to introduce Dual Integrated Digital Operating theatres.

Ascot Hospital facilities include:

  • 12 Operating rooms over two levels
  • 88 beds across three wards
  • A well-specified facility geared for day surgery
  • High Dependency Unit
  • Coronary Care facilities
  • For more information about coming into Ascot Hostpital click here 

Meet Our General Manager   on-site Services

How to find us

Our History

MercyAscot is a New Zealand owned private hospital and clinics facility based in Auckland.  Formed from the integration of two private surgical hospitals, Ascot Hospital and Mercy Hospital in 2001.

Why we merged:

Combining the partnership of two hospitals brought a rich and long tradition of caring and nurturing with a fresh approach to healthcare in the private sector – based on innovation and technological advances.  The integration of a high level of technical skill with a caring, nurturing attitude is shared by all MercyAscot staff.  We understand that everything matters and an optimal patient experience is imperative.
 

History of Mercy Hospital

The Sisters of Mercy arrived in Auckland in 1850 and were the first order of religious sisters to come to New Zealand.

Catherine McAuley, the order's founder, had a vision of one-to-one care of the sick and the dying. In the beginning, a handful of sisters with a few lay staff ran the Mater as a convalescent hospital, with limited facilities for surgery. The hospital was a place where the sisters took patients into their home and from where they went into the homes of others. As early as the 1920s the hospital was already a thriving surgical hospital, with more in common with its present form, than with the small cottage hospital of only two decades earlier.

In the second period from 1918 to 1936 the hospital grew quickly, meeting an increasing demand from Aucklanders for private surgery alongside a growing Auckland Public Hospital. This period of growth led to the building and opening in 1936 of the large main block.

But by the mid-1960s, the hospital began to specialise and in particular developed the first private cardio-thoracic unit in New Zealand, under the direction of Sir Brian Barrett-Boyes.

The 1970s were years of crisis, as the Sisters of Mercy adjusted to the new post Vatican II world. Social change reduced recruitment. Religious life was also transformed as the order reconsidered their ministries and embraced new forms of mission. The hospital came under enormous financial pressure, until in 1979 it was forced to close its maternity ward. In the early 1980s the hospital modernised its facilities, and dedicated itself to becoming a high-quality private hospital.
 

History of Ascot Hospital

Ascot Integrated Hospital opened in April 1999. With 68 private hotel-style rooms and greater operating capacity than any other private hospital in the city, Ascot challenged the public perception of the scope and potential of private medicine.