A perception the Southern District Health Board has agreed with every aspect of the the National Health Board's assessment of Dunedin Hospital is not correct, Richard Thomson says.
He told the board at its meeting in Queenstown yesterday it was "entirely appropriate" board management have time to identify areas of responsibility within the review report and develop an implementation plan and timeline to report back to committees and the board.
This was proposed by the hospitals' advisory committee.
However, that was not the same as suggesting board members agreed with everything "because I don't".
A significant area for him was the proposed structure.
"I am not sure the board will or should agree with that." The highly critical report contained four main recommendations and 45 actions proposed by the NHB team.
Mr Thomson and Dr Malcolm Macpherson both expressed reservations at the earlier hospitals' advisory committee meeting about the suggested restructure.
Mr Thomson said having a single regional structure was appropriate at some levels but not others.
He had cautioned against going ahead with an assumption of a strategic structure when it had not been discussed in depth by the board.
The National Health Board review team has recommended that there be one clear clinical leadership and management structure for the organisation with a regional focus on service delivery and that this be completed by December.
Appointments to this new structure should be made from December onwards, it stated.
The board agreed with the hospitals' advisory committee recommendation and it is expected there will be a report from management next month.
That report is expected to show which recommendations are purely operational and which will require board discussion and approval.
NHB deputy director Michael Hundleby, who was at yesterday's meeting, told the Otago Daily Times later there would be further liaison between the NHB and the DHB over both the Wakatipu health services report and the Dunedin Hospital review.
Asked again about the concerns about how some of changes suggested at Dunedin Hospital would be funded, Mr Hundleby said it was the NHB view that the recommendations could be covered by some re-investment from within existing funding.
