Christchurch's Charity Hospital was overwhelmed by a huge public response to its free 'skin check day'.
The community-based hospital in Harewood Rd, Bishopdale, offered 250 spots for the extensive one-day skin check on Saturday.
Targeted at low-income adults aged 50 and over, the appointments were quickly snapped up through online bookings, with some people missing out.
Charity Hospital volunteer Jane Shaw said New Zealand's high UV levels mean that early detection of skin cancers is vital.
"We check for squamous cell carcinoma and also melanoma, which people will have heard of. Each doctor is seeing multiple patients today."
She said their previous free skin check day was in 2019, and following the upsurge in demand, extra volunteers were bought in to assist on the day.
The Canterbury Charity Hospital's been providing a free service for patients with nowhere else to turn for more than 17 years.
The team say the facility plugs a gap in the public health system, providing free surgical, medical, dental and counselling services to people who did not qualify for - or could not afford - other health care.
All patients have to be referred by their general practitioner or dentist.
"There's no government funding, so funding comes from grants, donations, and bequests predominantly."
Around 300 credentialed and qualified medical practitioners volunteer to work at the hospital every year.
"That's the only way we can run things, really. We provide about $4 million worth of service every year for around about a quarter of that amount of money. So we need to raise about $1.1 million a year to, to run the service."
The community-based facility began with just one building in 2007. More were added over the years as demand increased, and there are further plans under way for construction of a new training and development unit, starting next year.
- Donations can be made to: https://charityhospital.org.nz/donate/
- By Geoff Sloan, made with the support of NZ On Air
