Lessons from Hokianga
Hokianga Health chief executive John Wigglesworth believes a decision to quit acute hospital care is one of the factors behind the troubles at the Whangaroa Health Services Trust, which has lost a number of medical staff, and more recently its chief executive and chairwoman.
Concerns were raised at a public meeting in late May about allegations of bullying, long waiting times to see a doctor and financial strains thanks to the loss Northland DHB funding.
Whangaroa and Hokianga Health are both non-profit trusts that provide free primary health care in high-needs areas, but while Whangaroa is in crisis, Hokianga has embarked upon a $2 million upgrade of its hospital at Rawene.
Hokianga chief executive John Wigglesworth said the two organisations had a close connection, and operated similar models of health care, but his trust had never experienced a disconnect with the community, or between the executive and the trust.
He believed Whangaroa’s difficulties stemmed from a decision to cease offering acute hospital services in Kaeo about five years ago, because it had become too difficult to maintain a 24-hour roster with three doctors, in particular when locums were involved. That decision had cost it funding from the DHB, which led to financial pressure.
“In Hokianga we rely on the fact that we provide an acute hospital service and elderly care. That means we can share resources between different services,” Mr Wigglesworth said.
Hokianga also had the advantage of scale, with about 6500 patients compared to Whangaroa’s 3000.
The real concern now was how primary health services and elderly care could be sustained. Mr Wigglesworth did not believe it likely that the Hokianga trust could take over at Whangaroa, but was keen to look at how it might help.