Hospital review in progress

A ‘‘CRITICAL friend’’ review of Lakes District Hospital is expected to be complete ‘‘in a matter of weeks’’, the results of which will influence the Southern District Health Board’s longerterm strategic planning for the area.

SDHB chief executive Chris Fleming said Gore Health Ltd chief executive Karl Metzler had already started on the highlevel review examining how the Frankton hospital was operating, how resourcing was being aligned there, its leadership and if the DHB was ‘‘getting the best out of what we’ve got there in terms of better meeting the needs of that community’’.

The results would be made publicly available.

Last year Mr Fleming told the Otago Daily Times the $6.5 million upgrade of the hospital, which is nearing completion, was a stopgap to ensure safe and sustainable services could be maintained for five to seven years, buying the board time to look more carefully at Wakatipu health services.

He said one of the biggest challenges for the DHB was how it was ‘‘growing and developing’’ the Queenstown LakesCentral Otago region.

‘‘One of the things I don’t want to do is go and plan for Queenstown and then go and plan for Dunstan and then go plan for Wanaka; we have to plan together.

‘‘Obviously, we’re also talking about the future direction of travel with COHSL [Central Otago Health Services Ltd] in Dunstan because, to me, the solutions need to be networked and not duplicated everywhere.’’

Mr Metzler’s report would also be shared with the Central Lakes

Locality Network, which comprised health service representatives around the region tasked with coordinating services.

Mr Fleming said the network would also look at maternity services, specifically what was ‘‘the appropriate configuration’’ of them over the coming years, and ‘‘where and how we’re going to grow services at Lakes District Hospital’’.

Another consideration would be the proposed private hospital planned at Queenstown Country Club, to be operated by Southern Cross CLT Ltd, a joint venture between Southern Cross Hospitals and Central Lakes Trust, and how the DHB could use it to provide some public health services.

‘‘We are really serious about trying to continuously grow, rather than just let’s wait for 10 years for a big, bang new hospital, we need to continue to grow services and activities.’’