'Enormous risk': Nats fear new Dunedin Hospital won't meet needs

National southern MPs have united to express concern over the direction of the new Dunedin Hospital.

Work is under way to build the smaller outpatient building for the new hospital, but a consent application has still not been made for the larger inpatient building.

The Otago Daily Times revealed in September that wards and services were under threat as part of an attempt to rein in spiralling construction costs for what is budgeted as a $1.47 billion project.

In October, the newspaper was leaked the Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand Southern response to an ongoing "value management" exercise which is attempting to find $100 million in savings.

Local health leaders argued strongly against most of the proposed cuts, which they said were false economies likely to cost more in the long term.

National leader Chris Luxon was in Dunedin for meetings yesterday and was joined by all the party’s southern MPs.

Dunedin list MP Michael Woodhouse said the biggest cost pressure facing the hospital build was delay.

"They have taken five years and they still aren’t at the start line," he said.

"They have got to get on with it. They have got to spec phase two and get it out to tender. Until they do they are just jumping at shadows."

In answers to written parliamentary questions released this week, Health Minister Andrew Little told Mr Woodhouse he had not been advised of any changes to the size and scale of the new Dunedin Hospital, or of any changes to its budget.

Mr Little has previously said if there were to be any such changes that he must be consulted first.

Those caveats were no comfort to Invercargill MP Penny Simmonds, who said she was desperately worried the new hospital would not meet the needs of the wider southern region.

"I think there is an enormous risk," she said.

"We know that Southland Hospital is two theatres too small and 90 beds too small.

"Dunedin is too small and that exacerbates it for the whole southern region."

Earlier in the day, Mr Luxon visited southern businesses and met Dunedin Mayor Jules Radich.

Mr Luxon met Mr Radich in June, when the now mayor was a city councillor, during a National party event.

Their first formal meeting as party leader and mayor traversed the current state of the city, the ongoing local government review, infrastructure projects, how local and central government could work more closely together and Three Waters, Mr Luxon said.

mike.houlahan@odt.co.nz