A single diagnostic scanner for both Central Otago and Queenstown Lakes districts is expected to be the hot topic at a forum of primary and secondary care clinicians on February 24.
The terms of reference for the proposed forum will be tabled when the Southern District Health Board holds its monthly meeting in Dunedin tomorrow.
A summary of the discussion, including differing opinions and any recommendations, was to be sent to Central Otago Health Services Ltd (COHSL), which operates the Dunstan Hospital in Clyde, and the Wakatipu Health Reference Panel, chaired by Queenstown Lakes Mayor Vanessa van Uden, in addition to health board members for their information.
Comments from the company and fledgling health watchdog will be matched with the report and the DHB business case submission to the DHB board by June this year. The business case was expected to identify the level of publicly funded CT scans.
"The discussions must be based on the premise that there will be only one [part publicly funded] scanner for the Central Otago area," the agenda released this week said.
The forum plan is the latest development since the most controversial recommendation for future health care services in the Wakatipu was made to the DHB by the independent National Health Board (NHB) panel in late August and sparked a tug-of-war between two communities, as there was not enough demand to sustain two scanners.
The NHB said a CT scanner for the benefit of both districts should be based in the Lakes District Hospital, Frankton.
The NHB recognised funding, financing and ownership models needed to be considered in the business case, with options including grants, fundraising or public-private partnerships.
The panel identified the DHB would not be the primary funder of the scanner.
COHSL chairman Russell McGeorge told more than 200 people who attended a meeting in Cromwell in mid-December, held to garner support for Dunstan's case for a scanner, that he was optimistic of sourcing funds from charitable trusts.
Dr Hans Raetz, of the Queenstown Medical Centre, said in October that the scanner should be based at Frankton hospital because there was more demand for CT scans in that area, especially with its skifields.
