Lay summary
Recent anecdotal evidence has indicated that the increased severity of gallbladder disease for Maori may be related to the access to routine surgical treatment. This grant will partially fund the design and development of a study that uses hospital and cancer data to examine the associations between access to care, treatment type and outcomes for Maori with gallbladder disease. The results would then be used to work with hospitals and the surgical college to address the issues identified, with the research process being able to be used as a tool for routine monitoring of access to surgical care.