The Southern District Health Board has been successful in its appeal against the loss of orthopaedic trainees at Dunedin Hospital next year, but the decision is disputed by the body that withdrew them.
The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons has set aside the New Zealand Orthopaedic Association's decision not to allocate the three trainees.
It is too late to allocate trainees next year, but the decision is an important vindication for the health board, which has been in a long-running row with its orthopaedic department about the seriousness of the department's resourcing issues.
New Zealand Orthopaedic Association chief executive Flora Gilkison said the association disagreed with the decision, and would take up the matter with the surgeons' college.
The association had been working with the health board for eight years to rectify the issues.
The association believed the surgeons' college was either unaware of the history, or had not taken it into account.
However, the association was happy to reinspect the department as soon as possible, with an eye to allocating trainees the following year.
"We are very hopeful that the SDHB will address the deficiencies, as outlined in the inspection report, to an extent that this temporary suspension will be revoked following a repeat inspection.''
In a health board press release, acting chief medical officer Richard Bunton said the surgeons' college had decided the training inspection was not conducted in a fair manner.
"The decision of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons to set aside the NZOA's decision has unfortunately come too late in the year for Dunedin Hospital to receive its allocation of trainees for 2016.
"This is hugely disappointing both for Dunedin Hospital and for the trainees who could have taken up training posts in 2016.''
Shortly after the original decision was made public earlier this year, orthopaedic surgeon Prof Jean-Claude Theis spoke out about the lack of adequate supervision for trainees.
Until the issues were resolved, the department was not safe for surgical trainees, he said.
