KEY POINTS:
Health Minister David Cunliffe has reiterated a warning to Wellington's health board that it could be sacked if it does not lift its performance.
Wellington Hospital hit the headlines again today after the baby of a first-time mother died within 24 hours of being discharged - just five hours after the mother had completed a difficult thirty-hour labour.
Capital and Coast District Health Board (CCDHB) has distanced itself from the discharge, which it said was the responsibility of the couple's independent midwife.
It says it does not encourage first-time mums to go home early, despite having a policy of encouraging other mothers to do so.
However the case has prompted accusations from the Maternity Services Consumer Council and the National Party that mothers are being "bullied" out of hospital after childbirth.
Mr Cunliffe today said he had deep concerns about "wide ranging systemic issues" at CCDHB, but he did not believe women were being bullied out of hospital.
He said the Health Ministry had spoken to the board - in the wake of Wellington Hospital's scrapped plan to offer mothers $100 to leave hospital within six hours of childbirth - to ensure no mothers were being sent home against their will.
However he was concerned about problems with maternity care and child cancer services at the hospital, as well as several recent worrying individual cases at the DHB.
Mr Cunliffe warned last month the board would face a major shakeup if it did not improve its performance.
Today he declined an opportunity to express confidence in the board and said he was seeking urgent advice on options available to him.
They include sacking the board and appointing a commissioner, sacking the board's chair, or increasing monitoring of the DHB's performance.
"It has become increasingly clear that it is important for me to act, which is why I have asked for further urgent advice on the full range of options available," Mr Cunliffe said.
"I accept there will be no quick fix. Any long-term solution will require all parties at the CCDHB - the board, the clinicians and management to work together with appropriate support."
The DHB was subject to a highly critical audit in July.
Telarc, formerly Quality Health New Zealand, said in its report the DHB was lurching from crisis to crisis and was out of its depth.
National Party health spokesman Tony Ryall today accused the Government of failing new mothers.
But Mr Cunliffe said infant mortality rates, which had dropped by 33 per cent in the past 10 years, were testament to good quality maternity services.
Maori Party MP Te Ururoa Flavell said he had been told of a mother who had been sent home from Wellington Hospital at the weekend against her wishes after giving birth to her sixth child.
Mr Cunliffe said it was not policy to send mothers home against their wishes.
The baby's death follows strong criticism of the board last week after it issued a memo offering non-first-time mothers a $100 supermarket voucher as an incentive to go home within six hours of giving birth.
The board made a U-turn after an outcry over the proposal.
- NZPA
