Dunedin Hospital was down to a lone neurosurgeon "for a period of time" earlier this year, but support from locums and neurosurgeons elsewhere in the country enabled it to cope, Southern District Health Board's hospitals' advisory committee was told yesterday.
Chief operating officer (Otago) Vivian Blake did not say how long the situation lasted, but said full coverage was provided with the good will and assistance of other neurosurgeons, "particularly our colleagues in Canterbury".
She told the meeting the situation had occurred when one of the two neurosurgeons had been "unable to return to work".
Recently, permanently appointed neurosurgeon Ahmad Taha and a locum neurosurgeon have been providing the service.
She said the second permanent appointment, United Kingdom neurosurgeon Reuben Johnson, who will have both clinical and university duties, would arrive next May.
A second UK neurosurgeon had shown interest in the four-year contract to fill the third position in Dunedin.
It is a limited contract because the third position will be filled permanently by the yet-to-be-found University of Otago professor of neurosurgery.
While the international search for this person has begun, it is accepted that it could take some years.
