Nats to restore Lumsden

National’s health spokesperson Michael Woodhouse and Clutha Southland MP Hamish Walker say National will reinstate full services at the Lumsden Maternity Centre, if elected in 2020.

The pair announced the plan on the side of the road yesterday at Gorge Hill in Southland, halfway between Mossburn and Te Anau, because they believed if the centre closed women would be force to give birth on the side of the road in remote places.

But Health Minister Dr David Clark, in a statement, said decisions about the configuration of maternity services were best made locally by DHBs.

‘‘DHBs know the needs of their communities and have a responsibility to deliver appropriate maternity services. I listened to the concerns the local community had about the proposed changes to maternity services in the district. I addressed those concerns by instructing the Ministry of Health to review Southern DHB’s plan.’’ In August, the Southern District Health Board announced that the centre was to be downgraded from a birthing centre to a maternal and child hub under its new Integrated Primary Maternity System of Care.

Under the system of care plan, maternal and child hubs will be developed in Wanaka, Te Anau, Lumsden, Tuatapere and Ranfurly. The DHB says these are non-birthing units. Primary birthing units are maintained at Lakes District Hospital in Queenstown, Gore Health, Oamaru Hospital and Clutha Health First in Balclutha, Winton Maternity Centre; and will continue at Charlotte Jean Maternity Hospital in Alexandra while the best long-term location of a primary birthing unit in Central Otago is explored.

Birthing units also continue alongside secondary and tertiary maternity services at Dunedin and Southland hospitals. The feasibility of a primary birthing unit in Dunedin will also be considered. The decision came after months of consultation, protest marches and petitions. The Northern Southland Health Company, which runs the centre, is seeking legal advice about the downgrade.

At the time, Southern DHB chief executive Chris Fleming said: ‘‘The current system had evolved through a range of circumstances and historical situations. Over time, some gaps and inequities had developed, with resources not well distributed across the district.’’

‘‘DHBs know the needs of their communities.’’ Health Minister David Clark