Queenstown senior doctors are cautiously hopeful about the decision to bring in an independent panel to sort out future health services in the area, Association of Senior Medical Specialists Association executive director Ian Powell says.
He considered the involvement of the National Health Board was welcomed, and suggested that even the television cartoon character Homer Simpson would have more credibility with members than the Southern District Health Board had.
The National Health Board was asked by the district health board to step in to the long-running controversy early last month.
An independent three-person panel, similar to that set up during the neurosurgery row last year, has been convened, led by Dr Peter Foley.
It was to have been announced next week, but increasing speculation about the issue prompted the NHB to go public early, before the involvement of all panel members and before the terms of reference were settled.
NHB deputy director Michael Hundleby said he was aware of community concerns about seemingly endless consultation on the issues, but the panel process was designed to be "as quick as possible but also thorough".
Mr Powell sought some flexibility about the panel's end-of-July reporting-back time, even though there was much material already available and the panel would not be starting from scratch.
The panel is to report back at the end of July. Its recommendations go to the Southern board in August and will then be put into practice from September.
While Mr Hundleby said meetings he held in Queenstown, including those with general practitioners and the mayor, were "very positive", concerns of the Wakatipu Health Governance Group were unresolved.
Mr Hundleby said at his Tuesday meeting with the group he had been "very direct", putting the view that considering governance before the services to be governed had been agreed was "putting the cart before the horse".
Reference group chairman Graham Todd said the group, which was consulting about a charitable trust governance model, had already debated that issue at some length. It considered it was doing a job it had been asked to do.
It was still planning to meet on Monday and in the interim would seek further clarification from the district health board on its position.
Mr Hundleby said the work already done by the group could help the thinking of the panel.
The contentious issue of service costs will be addressed by the panel.
Mr Hundleby said the NHB believed the finances needed to be "very transparent" for both the existing model and anything new proposed.
