More interaction between clinicians in rural hospitals and Dunedin Hospital is needed, medical director of the University of Otago's Te Waipounamu Rural Health Unit, Dr Pat Farry says.
He was commenting on concerns raised at the Otago District Health Board meeting last week that patients are not being referred to rural hospitals by Dunedin Hospital when there are beds available.
Dr Farry said the unit's view was that rural and small hospitals should be seen as providing peripheral services to the base hospital.
Patients should be sent back to their home hospital as quickly as possible, as people recovered more quickly in their own area.
He would like to see a two-way rotation of clinicians, where rural hospital doctors spent a week or two at Dunedin Hospital and some doctors from the base hospital spent time at rural hospitals.
Dunedin clinicians would be pleased to have experienced rural doctors assisting them as registrars, and doctors going out to the country areas would "spread the skill base".
Dr Farry said it was easy for staff in a busy ward to concentrate on survival rather than looking at innovative ways of doing things.
He accepted there would be family issues and matters related to staffing levels to be worked through, but he would like to see the idea given a trial.
