Drastic short-staffing at Southland Hospital in Invercargill is evidence of a "broken and unfair" health system, says Southland’s mayor.
But the national health body claims a move towards "district-based" decision-making will improve decision-making for the regions.
Southland District Mayor Rob Scott said claims from staff reported in the Otago Daily Times that the hospital had become so short-staffed that it had led to temporary shutdowns of theatres was another example of the health system not valuing the South.
"I’ve been aware that the health system hasn’t been working for quite some time, and there’s clearly systemic failures in the system in general, and I think this is just another consequence of it."
There were too many examples of the South being devalued, he said.
"I was never a great fan of the DHBs, but when the health system got centralised, you lost that important local autonomy and local voice.
"It even goes wider when you look at [things like] Wānaka’s just been given the X-ray and ultrasound funded services, and we’ve got our remote community of Te Anau, which has the equipment, and people are having to pay privately to use it."
There was little the Southland District Council could do about such matters, Mr Scott said, other than advocate for a "fairer share of the dollar".
"So as usual, that sort of postcode lottery comes in and bites us in the South where we don’t get the adequate funding to provide the necessary first-world health services."
The Southland Charity Hospital, which opened about a year ago, was an example of the community taking "health into their own hands".
"We’ve proven time and time again in Southland we can make the dollar go very far, we just need to get the dollar."
HNZ has previously acknowledged that the new roster for Southland Hospital was based on staff feedback and introduced in September.
It has also confirmed that it could not yet fill all the positions on the roster, and it was actively recruiting to resolve the issue.
HNZ Southern group director of operations Craig Ashton said he recognised some services at the hospital were under pressure, and this had a significant impact on patients and staff.
