Risk to lives too high, panel told

If centralising neurosurgery disenfranchised a significant number of people and put remote communities at risk, the long-term costs would outweigh any perceived efficiency, Otago and Southland civic leaders told the South Island neurosurgery expert panel in Dunedin yesterday.

Dunedin deputy mayor Syd Brown said the fact leaders from all eight districts, along with the regional council, had been prepared to clear their diaries and come to Dunedin with only 10 days' notice, at a busy time of year, showed how seriously they viewed the issue.

Cr Brown said he had never seen all the civic leaders so co-ordinated and "so passionate" about an issue.

In a joint presentation by Central Otago Mayor Dr Malcolm Macpherson, the group said it had been impressed by the extent of public concern, noting that many people who had never protested or marched before had done so in the campaign to retain a Dunedin service.

The panel was told the councils were accustomed to providing services to small populations across large distances "and we understand the trade-offs between centralisation and localisation".

The belief that centralisation was cost-effective was often wrong in human and political systems and "especially in medicine".

The "tyranny of distance" was outlined - "it's a very, very, long way from Stewart Island to Christchurch".

Over the years, Otago and Southland had evolved, and learned how to fund a successful emergency helicopter rescue strategy, but that service was stretched to its limits.

Extended time and distances to hospital meant more time would be taken up by health professionals throughout the patient's journey and there were a variety of extra costs for the service and families.

Concern that any change to the viability of hospital services could be the start of a "slippery slope" with effects on both urban and rural communities was expressed by the leaders.

The effect service removal would have on the University of Otago, other specialties, moves towards increased integration of hospital and community health care, and the economies of both provinces was raised.

Cr Brown said those at the meeting also each gave a brief presentation.

The panel had spent about 40 minutes asking the leaders questions, including some about how councils worked together across boundaries.

Cr Brown said the panel reserved the right to seek further information from the leaders.

One of the areas in which panel members showed particular interest was the running of the rural hospitals which are all owned by independent trusts and "how Dunedin services them with expertise".

"They asked a lot of questions about how that worked," Mr Brown said.

The panel declined to comment on yesterday's meeting.

Panel members Anne Kolbe, Glenn McCulloch and David Russell will spend today in Christchurch, before travelling to Invercargill tomorrow.

There they will attend the early part of the Southern District Health Board meeting and a public meeting at Stadium Southland, to be chaired by Southland Times editor Fred Tulett, at 2pm.

Environment Southland chairman Stuart Collie, who travelled to Wellington last week with the delegation delivering the petition, was unable to attend yesterday's meeting, but he supported the presentation.