Hawera mayor fears for hospital

BY LAIRD HARPER AND ESTHER TAUNTON

"Death by a thousand cuts" is how mayor Ross Dunlop yesterday described the situation at Hawera Hospital.

And he has accused health bosses of a lack of commitment to keeping the hospital going.

He launched his attack at a Taranaki District Health Board hospital advisory committee meeting in Hawera yesterday.

Ironically, the meeting was cancelled due to a lack of health board members attending. The committee was unable to form a quorum after TDHB chairman John Young and committee members Jan Dunlop and Brian Jeffares made their apologies.

But Mr Dunlop took the opportunity to read a statement to the 20 or so members of the public who had turned up for the meeting.

His comments were prompted by further changes at the hospital, where from this week, late night emergency cases will be treated in the public ward.

However, the health board says the public has been widely consulted and there will be no risk to the public from the changes.

Mr Dunlop said it wasn't long ago South Taranaki was celebrating the opening of the new hospital.

"I have become increasingly concerned about what appears to be a lack of commitment to keeping our hospital a viable functioning unit.

"There are some very disturbing rumours circulating and these rumours are backed up by first-hand experiences of people who have contacted me."

Mr Dunlop highlighted some of the specific rumours he had heard.

"Doctors' numbers being reduced, registered nurse numbers have been reduced dramatically.

"Nurses are resigning because of fear that patients are at risk and their registration is also at risk."

He said there is a freeze on recruitment and no commitment to recruiting doctors and nurses.

"It seems more convenient to use locums and part-timers.

"All of these issues lead me to believe there is an orchestrated plan of death by a thousand cuts."

Mr Dunlop said it was an intolerable situation for the community.

"We, at the very least, deserve to know all the facts."

A hospital worker spoken to by the Taranaki Daily News said morale of staff was at an all-time low.

"We lost nurses because they were unhappy with the conditions and could work elsewhere.

"There were thoughts of strike action but mortgages needed to be paid."

The worker said staff had no faith in the consultation process and are feeling the pressure of public concern.

"They know the public are unhappy but they cannot talk. I don't think the public know the half of the problems down here.

"The feeling is that it's another nail in the coffin for the hospital."

Hawera hospital committee member Neil Walker said it had been difficult to get information from the TDHB about what was happening with the hospital.

"We don't believe hospitals should stay the same forever and ever but what should happen is consultation and discussion," he said.

"Things should not be done in a stealthy and secret way," he said.

However, TDHB chief executive Tony Foulkes told the Taranaki Daily News the consultation process had been lengthy and included public meetings and extensive media coverage. Records show both Mr Walker and Mr Dunlop were involved in the consultation process.

Mr Foulkes said the introduction of the new system this week had not been publicised because nothing would change for patients.

"With the benefit of hindsight, yes, perhaps a reminder might have been a good idea," he said, "but it would not have been an announcement because this has been on the way for some time."

Hospital and specialist services general manager Joy Farley said while changes to the rostering system meant fewer hands on deck at night, all staff providing ED services would have ED experience and there was no risk to patient safety.

"It is very clear that emergency services will continue in Hawera," she said.

Despite rumours of redundancies, no jobs had been lost through the changes, Ms Farley said.

"Those rumours are completely untrue - nobody has lost their job at Hawera.

"There was one voluntary redundancy about six weeks ago when a non-nurse chose not to be redeployed."

- © Fairfax NZ News