Efforts to get a copy of the five year contract for services at Thames hospital have revealed that the contract does not yet appear to exist.

Green Party MP Jeanette Fitzsimons contacted the hospital on July 12 to ask for a copy of the contract, to see what services it provided. She has still not been able to get a copy.

"I was astonished to find that hospital manager Jacquie Mitchell had not seen it herself and referred me to Health Waikato.

"Health Waikato doesn't have it either and said the documentation had not been finalised but was expected mid-August.

"They referred me to the Health Funding Authority to enquire about its progress but after more than a week they have not returned my call.

"I have to ask, are Thames people being conned? Clearly if the contract does not exist yet it has not been signed, despite announcements that it has. We should not get too excited about what can only be a decision in principle until the details are available to be scrutinised."

In recent weeks, National MP Murray McLean has issued several statements publicising a new contract for the hospital. Without details it was too soon to say what kind of hospital Coromandel people might end up with under National, Ms Fitzsimons said.

ENDS

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