National Health Board welcomes decision

National Health Board welcomes neurosurgery decision

The National Health Board (NHB) welcomes the report by the South Island Neurosurgery Expert Panel, says NHB Board member Dr Jeff Brown.

“The report has found an innovative solution to ensure that the South Island will have a sustainable neurosurgical service, which will better meet the needs of the whole community.

“The academic neurosurgical component of the service has the potential to help the service become a leading centre of neurosurgery. This will greatly enhance the attractiveness of the service to top neurosurgeons and neuroscientists,” Dr Brown said.

“The NHB now has a role in overseeing and supporting the governance structure for the service and we look forward to rapidly putting this in place.

“The Expert Panel had the right mix of clinical and community expertise and the freedom to work with South Island communities, to come up with a model which should deliver a world class neurosurgical service.

“This same mix will be reflected in the make up of the Governance Board to be chaired by Professor Andrew Kaye.

“As health services are increasingly provided by DHBs on a regional basis, this model demonstrates how improvement can be achieved by developing solutions based on greater collaboration, allied with visionary leadership.

“The Expert Panel has worked very hard to engage with South Island communities, clinicians and DHBs and should be congratulated for this result which has focused on delivering the best outcomes for patients and their families as well as attracting and retaining clinicians,” he said.

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