A draft South Island regional health service plan has been
developed by district health boards, but it may be some
months before the public gets to hear what is in it.
The National Health Board requires the plan to address up to
five high-priority areas where the five South Island boards
can make obvious progress to address clinical or financial
sustainability or improve equity of access to services.
The South Island plan will also take into account actions to
help the recovery effort in Canterbury.
The national body has been clear that it wants clinicians and
clinical groups involved so they are supportive of the
process.
The plans also have to be in step with the individual boards'
annual plans. Like draft annual plans, they will not be
released until the Minister of Health has approved the final
version, which, in the South Island's case, could be two
months away.
South Island boards' planning spokesman Chris Fleming (South
Canterbury), asked about community involvement, said there
had not been "direct community input" into the plan
regionally.
However, advisory groups which had community input at
individual DHBs were likely to have been "kept aware of the
plan's development".
Part of the plan also has to include details on how the
boards will resolve any disputes. When the South Island
boards could not agree last year about neurosurgery, their
dispute was referred to the Director-general of Health who
set up a panel to make recommendations.
At the time, associate director of the New Zealand centre for
public law at Victoria University Dean Knight described the
process as "Mickey Mouse".
Boards had not passed decisions giving the Director-general
their decision-making function (something which would need
approval from the Minister of Health) and there was a risk of
legal challenge.
It is not known whether this process has been altered in the
draft plan.
Plans from the Northern, Midland and Central regions have
already been through the National Health Board review and
feedback process.
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