Southern DHB needs to hang onto Queenstown’s Hospital

Southern DHB needs to hang onto the keys of Queenstown’s hospital

“It’s looking more and more as if the Southern DHB’s management is so obsessed with turning around its financial deficit that it’s prepared to throw everything overboard in a bid to stay afloat – even the lifeboats and the passengers,” says Ian Powell, Executive Director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS).

“We’ve very concerned by indications emerging from the DHB that it wants to abrogate its responsibilities by shifting the cost of health services and governance of Queenstown’s Lakes District Hospital onto a community trust.

“Going down that path would be an absolute betrayal of the people living in the Queenstown-Lakes area. The DHB has an obligation to look after the health of people in its catchment area and it can’t just look the other way while a community organisation then tries to scratch together the necessary funds.”

Mr Powell says a report by an expert health panel three years ago recommended the Southern DHB retain governance (including the funding and provision of services) of Lakes District Hospital, and to support improved regional collaboration and integration. The report was then adopted by Southern DHB. Unfortunately Chief Executive Carole Heatly behaves as if the report never existed, thereby patronising the public.

“This report reflected the commitment of the people of Queenstown and its surrounding area and the health professionals working there to retaining the hospital and health services. Going against it now, three years later, would represent a failure of the DHB to listen to the wishes of the community, a failure to respect its commitment to clinical leadership, and erratic decision-making.

“Now Southern’s health bosses are trying to abrogate their responsibility to the public of Queenstown by dumping it on a community trust that inevitably will be under-resourced. Southern DHB will be the winner. It will control the community trust’s funding and use this power to financially squeeze it as hard as possible but avoid the responsibility for coping with this situation.”

He says the performance of trusts around the country, including in Otago and Southland, has been variable, have been on the verge of bankruptcy and often they have only survived because of the valiant efforts and dedication of particular doctors and other individuals.

“It is reasonable for Southern DHB to give priority to rebuilding Dunedin Hospital but it should not use this as an excuse to dump its central public hospital on the community. It had the option of delaying the rebuild of Lakes District Hospital, which would have been understandable under the circumstances. No community trust will be in a position to rebuild it.

“We know the DHB has significant financial and other issues that need to be addressed, but it needs to hang onto the keys of the Queenstown hospital. Anything else smacks of a top-down, poorly thought-out and panic-driven short-term response to its deficit.”

ENDS

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