Hospital staff urge public input

Lakes District Hospital doctors and nurses say planned changes to Wakatipu healthcare services lack clarity and need more public input.

A spokesman – a doctor who did not want to be named because of Southland District Health Board employment policies – said doctors and nurses at the hospital were surprised headway into future changes of Wakatipu health services had been made without their involvement.

They were concerned the current healthcare system could take a backward step if future changes outlined in the Integrated Family Health Centre proposal, made by the Southland District Health Board, were not made clear.

"There is a risk of reduced funding in a changed model of care, so we've really got to hold the district health board and government to making sure things are funded appropriately," he said.

"The bottom line is that we need to make sure the very good level of care currently enjoyed by Queenstowners across the board, from general practice through to hospital services, isn't eroded or restricted."

Doctors and nurses were concerned they might not be able to keep the numbers or types of patients for as long as they thought they needed to stay in hospital under the proposed changes, he said.

"The report talks about keeping people for four days. Our average stay is probably less than that, but there are certainly some people we look after longer than that," the spokesman said.

Other concerns doctors and nurses had included making sure the new system had enough hospital beds to cope with seasonal fluctuations, and that it would be able to cater for the range of conditions currently managed at Lakes District Hospital.

"We also need high-end emergency facilities with the flexibility to manage mass casualty situations and a transport system to back it up, because ambulance and maternity services were not included in the current concept plan."

The doctors-and-nurses group urged people from the Queenstown region to become involved with the proposed healthcare changes by attending the independent community health forum on Saturday and making submissions on the district health board hospital capacity review before it closed on April 23.

grant.bryant@stl.co.nz

- © Fairfax NZ News

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