Delays in accessing neurosurgery services were "a matter of life and death", Waitaki Mayor Alex Familton said yesterday, throwing his support behind a bid by Dunedin Mayor Peter Chin.
Mr Familton said the Waitaki district strongly supported Mr Chin's initiative to create a combined public forum, in the Dunedin Town Hall tonight, to demonstrate concerns about the possible shifting of neurosurgery services from Dunedin Hospital to Christchurch.
Waitaki had speedy and effective links with the Dunedin Hospital under a system carefully and successfully structured through Waitaki District Health Services and Oamaru Hospital.
The first two hours of attention to trauma was a crucial time for people with head injuries, and proximity to care allowed Waitaki's residents to receive timely treatment, he said.
As a result, Waitaki residents were very concerned considerations were being made in the health sector to restructure neurosurgery services, he said.
If that favoured Christchurch, then Waitaki residents could find treatment delayed, "with dire consequences".
The status of the Dunedin Medical School would also be affected.
Loss of experts and expertise would affect other departments, risking downgrading of facilities and care.
Time delays accessing neurosurgery services were critical in terms of patients' survival, Mr Familton said.
Centralisation of neurosurgery facilities in Christchurch "would not only fail to give local people a fair service and deplete local resources but could also fail to bring savings in medical funding", he said.
"This would be a classic case of central government being out of step with local capabilities, aspirations and vision."
Any depletion of present facilities would be flawed and reprehensible, affecting the wider district of Otago, which included Waitaki, Mr Familton said.
Invercargill Mayor Tim Shadbolt is unable to attend tonight's public meeting, but will be one of the leaders of tomorrow's "Community Meets the Hospital" march in Dunedin.
