A boost of $180 million for healthcare services in the Queenstown Lakes and Central Otago districts is a stopgap, not a plan for accessible public healthcare in the area, a Wānaka community group says.
A Health Action Wānaka spokeswoman welcomed news of the funding, announced this month, but described it as a ‘‘step toward addressing long-standing gaps in care’’ rather than one which fully addressed the issue of equitable access to public healthcare in the area.
‘‘It remains unclear what this funding will deliver for Wānaka and the Upper Clutha, where access to essential services continues to fall short of community need,’’ the spokeswoman said.
The group was pleased to see a commitment to expanding local delivery of mental health and addiction services, but believed Wānaka needed fit-for-purpose clinical spaces to support mental health practitioners to deliver safe, confidential and effective care locally, she said.
Health Action Wānaka was concerned with the plan’s lack of reference to urgent and unplanned care in Wānaka and a lack of detail on a proposed new model of maternity care.
‘‘Announcements alone are not enough,’’ the spokeswoman said.
‘‘Real progress will depend on clear commitments, implementation timelines and delivery on the ground for communities like Wānaka.’’
Health Minister Simeon Brown was in the region at the start of the month to announce a new clinical services plan for the ‘‘Otago Central Lakes’’ area, including $128m in additional operating funding over a four-year period beginning in July next year.
Mr Brown said the first tangible improvements would be felt within the next six to eight months with the expansion of Queenstown’s Lakes District Hospital’s emergency department.
Funding was planned to improve primary diagnostic, maternity, obstetric and gynaecology and outpatient services, he said.
Further, an additional $52m in capital funding would be made available to upgrade existing facilities and modernise digital systems to better connect patients from the area with specialist services, including the new Dunedin outpatient facility, Mr Brown said.
Queenstown Lakes District deputy mayor Quentin Smith, of Wānaka, said it was good the clinical services plan recognised ‘‘the relatively immediate need’’ to bring access to health services closer to what people would expect around the country.
‘‘As to what that directly means for services in Wānaka, at the moment we don’t know,’’ Cr Smith said.
Allied Media asked Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora (HNZ) for further information, including whether there would be additional inpatient beds at either Dunstan or Lakes District Hospitals as part of the plan, what maternity care was being considered for the region and how communities would be engaged and success measured.
The response from HNZ integration, planning, improvement and system change group manager Aroha Metcalf was scant on concrete detail.
She said no decisions had been made about additional inpatient beds and a range of options for maternity services were being ‘‘explored’’.
HNZ would work with communities, iwi and key stakeholders, and a schedule of engagement opportunities would be published next month, Ms Metcalf said.
Success would be measured by ‘‘improved access to care, positive patient experiences and outcomes, a sustainable workforce and the ability to deliver more services closer to home’’.
The new clinical services plan acknowledged residents of the region had been underserved by healthcare, a situation which placed increased pressure on healthcare services in neighbouring areas.
In a planning document released in conjunction with the announcement, it was reported that in 2024-25, the Queenstown Lakes and Central Otago districts had the highest number of air ambulance transfers in New Zealand with 496.
Two years ago, about 80% of people travelled outside the area to receive care that similar-sized populations could access locally, the document said.
Announcing the new clinical services plan at Queenstown’s Lakes District Hospital last Wednesday, the health minister said about 70% of New Zealanders who lived more than two hours from a base hospital lived in the Otago Central Lakes area.
‘‘This plan brings care closer to home for one of the country’s fastest-growing regions, so residents can access the right care at the right time, where they live.
‘‘Every patient that can be seen locally in Otago Central Lakes is one fewer patient having to travel for hours to Dunedin or Invercargill for appointments, scans or treatments,’’ Mr Brown said.
In the planning document released alongside the announcement, HNZ said it was ‘‘exploring’’ the delivery of a general hospital in the region.
Allied Media asked what ‘‘exploring’’ meant in practical terms.
Ms Metcalf said HNZ was in the ‘‘early stages of understanding’’ what a potential new general hospital could look like.
That work included looking at future needs, service models, workforce considerations and overall feasibility.
While it was still early, it reflected a proactive approach to planning for the region’s long-term health needs.
Any proposal would go through established business case and approval processes, Ms Metcalf said.
