We’re not done yet
Vinings to launch ambitious plan for Southland charity hospital
Blair Vining is a man who has giving his all to New Zealand while he’s battling the odds to spend more time with his family. Time is precious for Blair and his wife Melissa, but they are not ready to quit campaigning yet. The couple have announced an ambitious plan to start a community charity hospital in Southland to ensure other Southlanders get timely access to, initially, bowel cancer diagnoses, to boost their chances of survival.
Blair has terminal bowel cancer. Since receiving his diagnosis in October last year the pair have lobbied the Government to ensure other Kiwis don’t have to go through the same struggles they have faced.
They started a petition, eventually signed by more than 140,000 New Zealanders, to establish a cancer control agency – something the Government recently agreed to as part of its Cancer Action Plan.
Blair, who has been admitted to Dunedin Hospital, hopes to attend a meeting with potential investors, interested parties and supporters in Invercargill this evening at 6pm to launch the plan for the charity hospital.
‘‘Since Blair was diagnosed, we’ve had hundreds of people contact us who’ve been denied services by the Southland DHB,’’ Melissa said.
‘‘If we can put an end to the suffering of others by establishing a local charity hospital service ... then Blair’s suffering will not have been in vain.’’
Melissa said the initial goal was to provide colonoscopies to Southland patients left languishing on waiting lists.
‘‘We [Southland] have got the highest rate of bowel cancer in New Zealand and the lowest number of colonoscopies being performed.’’
The hope is to then expand the service to include diagnosis and treatment for other conditions.
Melissa admits it is early days and that there’s a long way to go yet to get things up and running – including financing the project and finding a hospital site.
But she said many in the community were right behind them.
‘‘Southland is a great place to live and we want to have great healthcare for people no matter where they live . . . We haven’t got time for more government reviews and reports ... Blair wants action, not talk.’’
Two surgeons have told her they will work voluntarily in the proposed unit, and six nurses have have said they are definitely interested in volunteer work.
Also attending the meeting will be Professor Phil Bagshaw, Dame Sue Bagshaw and Carl Shaw from the successful 12-yearold Canterbury Charity Hospital in Christchurch.
Phil Bagshaw has been acting as a mentor to the Vinings for the past four months in their initial plans to get a Southland charity hospital service off the ground.
‘‘It’s regrettable that entities such as charity hospitals need to be considered at all, but while health resources are underfunded nationwide in general, it’s clear that people in the regions, like Southland, are suffering badly,’’ he said.
He co-authored a recent report, commissioned by the Southern District Health Board,
‘‘We haven’t got time for more government reviews and reports.’’
Melissa Vining
into perceived issues with the DHB’s endoscopy service.
The report, which was released to the Southern DHB in May, concluded that the SDHB area has one of the highest rates of colorectal cancer in New Zealand, one of the highest rates of cancer spreading beyond the bowel at diagnosis, one of the highest emergency surgery rates for bowel cancer, and one of the lowest colonoscopy rates.
It is hoped the charity hospital in Southland might start with two paid employees – a manager and a registered nurse – and that it will be supported by volunteers including doctors, surgeons and anaesthetists.
‘‘What we’ve recommended is to buy a house and convert it into an endoscopy unit,’’ Phil Bagshaw said.
‘‘It’s very important not to do a whole host of things for a start. Put the priority on something important ... They could be operating there in six months to a year.’’
As the hospital grows it would add other medical care, but the main priority would be addressing early cancer signs, he said.
The cost to establish a charity hospital will be unveiled tonight.