Collaboration between Otago and Southland diabetes and endocrinology services is about to increase, with two Otago consultants soon to begin monthly outpatient clinics at Invercargill Hospital.
One of them is Prof Jim Mann, who is pleased at the closer liaison between the two provinces.
He suggested it would have been appropriate to combine the provinces' services some 20 years ago, and while the new arrangement was not a joint service as such, the greater collaboration made sense.
He and fellow consultant Dr Victoria Stott would be working with Southland staff, which included a "very competent physician", diabetes nurses and a dietitian.
Dr Stott will begin work this month and Prof Mann in February.
So far, the Otago and Southland boards has only two joint services, cardiac surgery and the Southern Blood and Cancer Service.
The announcement of the diabetes clinics, in a recent Otago hospital advisory committee report, comes at a time when a concept paper from chief executive of both district health boards Brian Rousseau on regional clinical services is out for consultation.
If the boards were to provide quality services they needed to pool services, his report said.
He emphasised the need for collaboration to be driven by "coal-face" clinicians, saying that the boards must make the most of resources to provide the best and most efficient service to people in both provinces.
Consultation on his paper closes this week.
