The battle has begun to fight a proposal that would see Timaru Hospital brought under the umbrella of the Dunedin-based Southern health district.
About 200 people turned out to a protest outside Timaru Hospital on Saturday to express their dismay at the proposal.
RNZ has reported that the proposed restructuring involves reducing the number of health ‘‘districts’’ from 18 to 14, merging South Canterbury with Dunedin-based Southern, Lakes with Bay of Plenty, MidCentral with Whanganui, and Wairarapa with Wellington and Hutt Valley.Apart from Canterbury and Southern, all 23 existing clinical leadership positions in medical, nursing and allied health would be disestablished.
Branch president of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, anaesthetist Dr Peter Doran, said Saturday’s gathering was a start on the efforts that would have to be made to defend Timaru Hospital and the good services it provided.
‘‘We have been running a really good show for many years.
‘‘Now with the advent of Te Whatu Ora, there’s a threat to take the important decisionmaking away from Timaru and place it elsewhere, somewhere they won’t have our interests at heart.
‘‘The thing we are most worried about is that the people who run the hospital are going to be somewhere else.
‘‘Although they are not bad people — they’re good people— but if they have to be in Dunedin or Christchurch they won’t know as much as we do about what’s right for our hospital and our health services throughout the district.’’
Dr Doran said the Southern health district was doing as much as they could for the people of Dunedin, trying to build a new hospital, and also looking after hospitals in Invercargill, Gore, Balclutha, Dunstan, Queenstown Lakes and Oamaru.
‘‘They have enough to do and they don’t need or want us and we don’t want them.
‘‘If we are going to be linked with anyone it needs to go north where all our specialist services are.’’
Dr Doran said that while some hospital managers come and go, doctors and nurses and allied health and all those who worked in the hospital were there for a long time.
‘‘We care a lot about the services we provide and we worry about how things are going to be in the future.
‘‘The biggest threat is that we will get lumped in with someone else and things will bleed away from here in Timaru.’’
Dr Doran said that staff had been told for a year that the proposal regarding Timaru Hospital was imminent.
He said that when it was finally released late last month, despite the length of time, there was little evidence of anyone in South Canterbury having been talked to.
Some of those at the protest expressed their fear that a very successful hospital would be gutted and run down, and that it would no longer be a soughtafter placement for students who came to learn.
One man said so much had already been taken away from the people of South Canterbury.
‘‘The bureaucrats in Wellington don’t seem to understand.
‘‘They don’t want to understand.
‘‘It all comes down to money, they’re trying to save money, but actually making things worse.’’
Dr Doran said consultation on the plan had closed, and another plan would be produced.
‘‘At some time in the not-toodistant future, we will be asking you all to get together in even bigger numbers to stand up for the hospital we’ve got here.’’
