Board firm on surgical cover

A protest demanding the return of 24-hour surgical cover at Kaitaia Hospital has failed to sway the Northland District Health Board.

Despite an announced $9.3 million upgrade of Kaitaia Hospital, Far North residents are still concerned about the axing of 24-hour surgery 18 months ago.

About 60 of them travelled from Kaitaia on Monday to protest outside the health board offices in Whangarei.

Save the Hospital Committee chairman Gordon Bibb said the axing of 24-hour surgery was placing extra pressure on Whangarei Hospital waiting lists. "People in Whangarei should be worried too."

After addressing the crowd, board chairwoman Lynette Stewart and Northland Health chief executive Karyn McPeake asked for a delegation from the protesters to present their views. In a sometimes heated meeting, Green MP Sue Bradford, who lives near Kaitaia, asked why the board and the Government had done away with 24-hour surgery when the population in the Far North district was growing.

Ms Stewart said the changes were made in accordance with an independent review team's report on the health needs of the area, a report Ms Bradford acknowledged she had not read.

The board had not cut services at the hospital, Ms Stewart said, and there were no plans to close the hospital.

Mr Bibb highlighted an incident in which he said an expectant mother was transferred to Whangarei Hospital with complications. She had ended up giving birth "at the top of the Mangamukas".

Ms Stewart said she would expect any "horrific stories" concerning patient safety to be put in writing and sent to either herself or the chief executive.

However, no such stories had come to her notice.

Save the Hospital Committee member Colin Campbell - a former ambulance driver - said 22 people had been transferred to Whangarei Hospital in April.

"I wonder what will happen when someone dies because the helicopter can't land," he said.

Mr Bibb said the committee was determined to see the return of 24-hour surgical cover in Kaitaia, and was prepared to do whatever it took to get that cover back.

- NZPA