Concerns about GP costs, accessibility, population-based funding, governance, maternity, care of the elderly and the future of Lakes District Hospital were voiced in Queenstown last night in the first public meeting on Wakatipu health services organised by the National Health Board (NHB) panel.
Panel chairman Dr Peter Foley, of Napier, told about 70 receptive, but sceptical residents the panel was tasked with making "a strong recommendation with a firm business and implementation plan about what health services should go on in the Wakatipu".
The recommendation would be tabled when the Southern DHB met on August 5 and was expected to be adopted and implemented in the following weeks. The recommendation was intended to look 30 to 40 years into the future, with short-, medium- and long-term plans on how to get there, Dr Foley said.
The chairman believed there was "frustration and uncertainty about where to go", when asked his perception of health provision from meeting stakeholders and medical staff, since the NHB was asked to sort out the crisis by the DHB on May 31.
"Should we invest, can we get more doctors and nurses, shall I move out when I get to 75?" he said. "The overriding message is one of frustration."
Dr Foley, accompanied by consumer advocate David Russell and project leader Simon Everitt, among others, acknowledged public uncertainty about how much money was being spent by the Southern DHB and if it was appropriate for the population mix. Mr Everitt and his team were charged with researching such data, along with getting a more accurate population figure.
Asked about the Queenstown hospital's status, Dr Foley said there were no plans to expand it, or shrink it. The panel was "not wedded to a physical model" and was "not necessarily committed" to the DHB's controversial proposal for an integrated family health centre.
Asked if public-private partnerships worked elsewhere, Dr Foley said they did in places where resources were limited and facilities, such as theatres, were shared.
Panelists were aware of previous community consultation and plans, the Wakatipu's growing population and what services were already being provided in the South, he said.
Dr Foley said a way needed to be found to provide affordable access to healthcare by local people.
