Talk of second base hospital for Southern
A second base hospital in Southland and Otago could be a possible solution to take the pressure off Southland Hospital where staff are struggling to keep up.
Southern District Health Board members have suggested that a secondary hospital may be needed in Queenstown-Lakes or Central Otago in the future as Southland Hospital has become too small for the population it serves.
However, any decision on another hospital would be years away and up to the new health authority Health New Zealand.
Board members discussed the idea during a meeting Tuesday where they received a draft clinical needs analysis from independent consultants Sapere.
Clinicians at the hospital have been dealing with long waiting lists for both and appointments and surgeries – which are often postponed when there are not enough beds – while the emergency department has experienced ‘‘unprecedented demand’’.
The clinical analysis found this was because of patients living longer, high levels of poverty and a 29% growth in the population Southland Hospital serves.
Staffing shortages were also a factor while the struggle to access primary care was having a knockon impact on the hospital.
Sapere managing director David Moore said this, coupled with the distances some people were travelling to the hospital, meant there was probably a case for another hospital in the next 40 years.
‘‘The pressure on Southland Hospital has become worse over the years,’’ he told the board.
As part of their research, Sapere consultants spoke to emergency department, assessment treatment and rehabilitation, surgical, medicine, orthopaedics, women’s health and children’s health teams.
Southland-based board member Lesley Soper asked that researchers include input from allied health teams – particularly physiotherapists – while fellow board member Kaye Crowther said the analysis had to take into account that Southland was experiencing the highest per capita growth of Mā ori youth in the country.
A greater focus on disability services was also needed, Crowther said.
Deputy board chairman Peter Crampton said given the speed at which the Central Otago population was growing, Cromwell would be a natural choice for a secondary hospital.
However, while the draft analysis showed the population had grown 45% since 2006 to reach 24,820 (with projections putting that number at around 29,210 by 2038), those living in the area were more likely to travel to Dunedin Hospital than Southland.
Board member Terry King said it was the people from Queenstown-Lakes – where the population had grown 100% since 2006 to reach 48,300 – that were using Southland Hospital, because there were no public hospital services in the community.
Another board member Jean O’Callaghan said it took less time to fly to Wellington or Auckland from Queenstown than it did to drive to Invercargill or Dunedin.
‘‘This can’t continue. It’s not equitable,’’ she said.
Dr Lyndell Kelly agreed: ‘‘Secondary services need to be where the people are. And they need to be affordable.’’
The board will receive a final version of the clinical needs analysis at their last meeting in June, before handing it to Health New Zealand for consideration.