It is not clear who will see the draft report of the South Island neurosurgery services panel when it reaches the Southern District Health Board for fact-checking.
Board chief executive Brian Rousseau said yesterday who might see it would depend entirely on what was in the report in terms of technical details which might need checking against data.
He was also not sure what instruction would be given to the board about who might have access to it.
The panel was appointed by the acting director-general of health, Andrew Bridgman, after South Island district health boards could not reach agreement on the future configuration of a regional neurosurgery service in the South.
Southern wanted a two-site service with at least two neurosurgeons residing in Dunedin while Canterbury opted for a one-site model employing six neurosurgeons in Christchurch.
Under the panel's terms of reference, the panel, comprising Anne Kolbe (chairwoman), Glenn McCulloch and David Russell, is required to provide all South Island district health boards with a draft report in confidence for checking "accuracy and fact within a period of three working days".
This is expected to happen as soon as the panel's final report is due to be delivered to Mr Bridgman in a week's time.
Mr Rousseau said he had no idea what Mr Bridgman's timeframe for announcing a decision would be.
According to the terms of reference, it is only when Mr Bridgman makes his announcement that the panel's report will be released.
