Hospital report secret under rebuild process

A REPORT into the state of the concrete on Dunedin Hospital’s ward block will be kept secret because the Cabinet will look at it as part of its decision on the hospital rebuild, the Ministry of Health says.

The concrete condition assessment carried out by Opus last month was requested by the Otago Daily Times under the Official Information Act.

In its decision to withhold the report, the ministry cites confidentiality of advice.

‘‘The document concerns the indicative business case [for the hospital rebuild], which is yet to be considered by the joint Ministers of Health and Finance.’’

It will be released later this year, with the indicative business case, after the Cabinet considers them in August.

The Cabinet will be given options for the rebuild, and it is understood the full rebuild will cost more than $1 billion.

Separately, yesterday, the ministry announced the indicative business case had been signed off by the rebuild partnership group.

Rebuild chairman Andrew Blair, in a press release, thanked the Dunedin community for its ‘‘input’’.

‘‘There’s been a huge amount of work behind the scenes to get to this point and I’m pleased we’ve delivered on our promise to sign off the indicative busi ness case by the end of June,’’ Mr Blair said.

The public was not consulted on the business case, but the group held one public meeting in February in Dunedin.

It was criticised for a lack of detail and for focusing on general themes and concepts rather than on the build itself.

Dunedin North MP David Clark said the secrecy around the project was ‘‘outrageous’’.

‘‘It’s a critical decision that shapes the type of rebuild or the range of options that will be considered from here on,’’ he said of the Cabinet decision in August.

‘‘Dunedin, Otago, and Southland need to be assured that they will have a full rebuild that provides quality care in a central city location to ensure they can continue to attract and retain the best staff,’’ Dr Clark said.

The rebuild has big potential implications for the Dunedin physiotherapy pool. A communityled upgrade was put on hold 18 months ago to await decisions on the site of the new hospital.

Otago Therapeutic Pool Trust secretarytreasurer Neville Martin said yesterday he still did not know if the pool would have to make way for a new hospital.

‘‘I was told by the SDHB today that the IBC had been signed, but I was not told of any detail.

‘‘Therefore, I am still unaware of whether the physio pool site will be affected,’’ Mr Martin said.

❛ Dunedin, Otago, and Southland need to be assured that they will have a full rebuild that provides quality care in a central

city location ❜

— Dunedin North MP David Clark