Decision just the beginning: chairman

Otago District Health Board chairman Errol Millar has warned the journey is just beginning and patience is needed in the wake of the Government's decision to merge the Otago and Southland district health boards.

Minister of Health Tony Ryall said the boards had been working closely for several years, and announced yesterday that a merger between the two "makes sense".

However, the announcement was met with mixed reactions.

Mr Ryall said the Southern District Health Board was expected to be formed on April 30, and the present members of both boards would work as a single board, under one chairman, until the local body elections at the end of this year.

The main concerns expressed by people who made submissions in the consultation were the potential loss of services from Southland Hospital and a loss of representation for Southland, he said.

"The new Southern DHB will have a clinical advisory committee, ensuring a strong voice for clinicians in planning new services, as well as providing a direct line to the DHB's governors.

"The Government has accepted the recommendation of the two boards to establish two wards.

After the DHB elections, there will be four elected representatives from Otago and three from the Southland region, as well as four ministerial appointments."

Mr Ryall said the merger, in itself, was not a "panacea" to the DHBs' service and financial challenges.

"But this local initiative is a good step in securing the future of southern health services."

The announcement was not well received by Association of Salaried Medical Specialists executive director Ian Powell.

He believed the minister had made "an unwise and premature" decision.

"The concerns raised by senior doctors in Southland have not been addressed.

"Because the decision-making has been from the top down, and this approach has been endorsed by the minister, it will reinforce concerns in Southland that their services will be run down.

"The minister is looking to a clinical advisory to address these things, but the problem is that there is not a history or culture of genuine clinician engagement in Southland.

"It would appear the Government has promoted clinical leadership on the one hand, but on the other hand it seems to narrow the scope of clinical leadership to some things and not others - such as this."