There is hope after all that Dunedin Hospital might finally be about to hire a new neurosurgeon.
A day after reporting to the Southern District Health Board’s hospital advisory committee that a preferred candidate for the long-vacant role had pulled out and that no new candidate was on the horizon, the board’s chief operating officer, Hamish Brown, yesterday brought fresh optimism to the situation.
"I can offer an update that the team is working with a candidate whose registration is being worked through with the Medical Council now," he said.
"There will be some delay in their arriving in Dunedin as they need to ... arrive in the country and ... spend some time orientating with the team in Christchurch."
The Dunedin service is meant to have three surgeons but for several years the sole surgeon employed by the service has been Ahmad Taha.
That means any patients requiring care when he is not on shift or is on leave need to travel to Christchurch, something which the board was told yesterday had been a major factor in a large blow-out in funds allocated for air ambulance services.
The new appointment is likely to be a co-hire with the University of Otago.
No-one from the university was available to comment yesterday.
