The line in the Joni Mitchell song Yellow Taxi, "you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone", is particularly poignant when you consider the case for saving our incredible physiotherapy pool, located in downtown Dunedin.
And, in case people wondered, the pool is still sitting there in situ, and those working to save it have kept the momentum going from the previous trustees.
The 25m pool, situated beside the Fraser Building Physiotherapy Outpatients Department, on the one-way road south on Castle St, is still pleasingly described in a Google search as "temporarily closed."
While it is unused at present as its mechanical plant requires repairs, recently the new Otago Therapeutic Pool Trustees, a group of volunteers in the community, had an important visit to the pool, hosted by Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora (HNZ) staff.
We discovered that despite remaining empty and unused, it is still in relatively good condition, as it was when it closed in 2021.
This was heartening, and we would like to thank HNZ for listening to us and working alongside us as we continue on the journey towards reopening this facility.
The encouraging part is that if our trust can obtain a lease from HNZ, we can start fundraising to refurbish and reopen the pool, and we are preparing a business plan to this end.
We thank former property and services manager David Bainbridge-Zafar and Ritchie Fieldwick for taking time in their working day to show us through the pool and its engine room, and for explaining the mechanical aspects to which our trust would need to attend to in order to reopen the pool.
It is really important that our government departments listen to their communities, and we can thankfully say, it appears this is happening at HNZ in Dunedin.
Kudos to them.
But restoring the ability for Dunedin people to receive all-important hydrotherapy — which is proven to improve recovery time for the many of us with bone and muscle injuries, diseases and disorders — is still going to take community determination of the highest order, right from the top of HNZ nationally and locally, through to you in the community who can help us in a major effort to raise funds and resources to return this beautiful category 2 heritage-listed pool to full working order.
And why shouldn’t Otago people have access to a hydrotherapy pool, the same as people in cities and regions all over New Zealand, especially given that this pool is already in existence and just waiting to be reopened?
Let’s remind ourselves why the Castle St pool is absolutely vital to Dunedin and for improving the quality of life for so many thousands of people here and across Otago.
We already know it improves patient outcomes — ask those in the community who have rehabilitated there in the past.
You don’t have to take their word for it. Numerous academic studies show that hydrotherapy works best in a dedicated warm water pool where buoyancy, pressure and resistance play key roles in reducing pain and thus allowing improved mobility and function.
Hydrotherapy prevents further physical deterioration, reducing healthcare costs associated with worsening conditions.
This is a case of cost effectiveness for health systems, tick; restorative health benefits, tick; and better quality of life and improved outcomes for many thousands of people in our communities, tick — and patients self-management adding value to their existing rehabilitation programmes, tick.
I can’t think of a case that can be painted to cast doubt on this argument. We desperately need this pool to be restored for full community use.
Our physiotherapists tell us that thousands of patients could use it if it was open.
Formerly, a massive 80,000 visits by our community occurred annually, in addition to the physio patients during hospital-only sessions.
Patients and community users are missing out, especially Vera Heyward children and their families, stroke, cardiac, spinal patients and those with arthritic conditions.
The uniquely warm water (37°C-38°C) in this purpose-built rehabilitation pool makes all movement easier and less painful for everyone who enters it.
Exciting research at our own university has recently added further data to confirm patient benefits.
People of all ages, and especially our baby boomers now entering their twilight years, suffer from musculoskeletal disorders and neurological conditions and need rehabilitation pre- and post-surgery.
As we have seen in the past when the pool was operating, patients who could access hydrotherapy experienced improved mobility, reduced pain and faster recovery times.
So it is clear to us that one of the most compelling reasons for restoring the pool and allowing it to be used by the community again is its direct impact on better patient outcomes.
Moana Pool is not suitable, either in terms of temperatures or accessibility. And sadly, because the pool remains closed, physiotherapy students from the University of Otago enter the workforce without exposure to hydrotherapy techniques, limiting their ability to offer the best mix of treatment options.
Our community, patients, our physiotherapists, our medical community and our physio students all need this pool to be returned to working order.
Our forthcoming business plan we hope will reveal a cost-effective way of maintaining and restoring the heating and general infrastructure of the pool.
Watch this space — we hope to bring more positive news soon. Meanwhile, the pool remains closed ... only temporarily.
■John Bezett is a former Dunedin city councillor and businessman. He is now a trustee of the Otago Therapeutic Pool Trust.
