Airline under fire from senior doctors
Senior doctors have joined the chorus of disapproval about Air New Zealand’s decision to cut flights to the regions, saying it will be bad for public health.
Association of Salaried Medical Specialists executive director Ian Powell said doctors in the main centres frequently provided cover for provincial hospitals at weekends.
However, that was becoming more difficult as flights were reduced or cut out altogether, he said.
‘‘What they require is to be able to get there and back in a timely way because they still have their day jobs to do.
‘‘It’s an extra obstacle and people will have to think twice before they volunteer to do it,’’ Powell said.
Kapiti is the latest regional airport to lose its Air New Zealand connection, with flights to Auckland due to end on April 3.
This has raised the ire of Regional Development Minister Shane Jones, who has publicly castigated the national carrier for pulling out of centres such as Kaitaia.
Powell said the changes affected specialists running clinics in regional centres and patients who had to travel for specialist medical treatment. ‘‘It creates real problems for our public health system and unduly disadvantages people in the provinces.
‘‘If they ever cut back on flights from Christchurch to Hokitika, for example, it would have a devastating effect on the ability to provide visiting specialist clinics over there.’’
Powell, who travels extensively to attend meetings with district health boards, said it was becoming harder to fit return trips into a single a day.
Travelling from Wellington to Whakatane was an example of this, he said.
‘‘I now have to fly to Tauranga and drive across. I can just do it in a day, but it’s tight.’’
Powell said the timing of flights was also an issue for doctors attending professional development sessions in the larger cities.
‘‘Do we have a national airline or do we not? It obviously has to make a profit but does it have to make the biggest profit possible? Because there’s a social responsibility [aspect].’’