Hospital all in good time

Eileen Goodwin.
Eileen Goodwin.
Opinion

The stalling and delays in the $300million Dunedin Hospital rebuild project have barely caused a ripple.

Public perception of the Government's general indifference to Dunedin seems to have engendered scepticism about such things ever getting under way.

And the cynicism is understandable, given the platitudes and promises in the past 18 months appear to be aimed at quelling concern over the rundown state of the clinical services building.

The planning has only just started with the naming last week of political appointees who will ensure Wellington keeps a firm grip on proceedings.

The Government was never going to entrust the health board with the rebuild, and, anyway, such oversight groups seem to have become the norm in recent years.

The leaking building became a low-level political embarrassment during a general election year.

It is quite hard to visualise, but once building is under way, the project will create significant economic stimulus and huge logistical upheaval on the hospital campus.

The group's creation was trumpeted by Health Minister Jonathan Coleman, who used the opportunity to confirm $22.5million of interim works, chiefly for the ward block.

It includes $7.3million for maintenance to be spent, at least in part, on patching up the very clinical services building that is to be replaced.

That will be money down the drain, on top of the recent $1.75million fix-up job.

The new hospital building will probably be built on the site of the Children's Pavilion.

That the Government parted with so much cash for deferred maintenance is either an indictment of previous hospital management regimes' neglect or tacit admission that southern health has indeed been underfunded, for a very long time.

The question of whether the population head-count model short-changes the South has to be settled because it affects what can be spent on a new building.

The board will be up for tens of millions of dollars a year to pay interest on the capital, and no-one has explained how that is affordable.

The commissioners were charged with turning the finances around and creating a long-term plan after board members were sacked this year.

They have kept a low profile, and few people seem to know what they are up to.

They promise to produce a ''work plan'' soon, and whether it contains any meaningful detail remains to be seen.

The relationship between the commissioners and the rebuild oversight group has the potential for friction, but given they are all political appointees, it's somewhat unlikely.

Both groups will talk for some time of the need to look at different ''models of care'' for the new hospital, but will need to move past health jargon at some stage.

The process will become controversial if the public and local doctors become concerned the new hospital building is not going to fit the needs of the South.

The nurses' union is fairly quiet on health board affairs these days, so is unlikely to become too involved in public discussion.

Appointed to both groups, as a deputy commissioner and partnership group member, Richard Thomson has emerged an influential figure.

Gone are the days he was relegated to the ''back bench'' of the now-defunct health board by former health minister Tony Ryall.

For the most part, Mr Thomson is good at dealing with the media, and looks likely to become spokesman for the rebuild and for changes instigated by the commissioner team.

He is a familiar face in the South, unlike governance group chairman Andrew Blair, whose private health background has raised eyebrows.

In an interview, Mr Blair was keen to dispel concerns, volunteering the fact he voted against the unpopular kitchen outsourcing proposal as a Hawke's Bay District Health Board member.

Dr Coleman will not be too perturbed about the delays in the project - it looks set to be approved by the Cabinet next year around the time health board elections resume, which will give an impression of progress before the commissioners depart.

eileen.goodwin@odt.co.nz

Add a Comment

 

Advertisement