THE Wairarapa District Health Board is refusing to say whether the arrival of a new Masterton Hospital will result in jobs being axed.
Rumours are rife at the hospital that some departments are heading for job cuts.
Among areas said to be at risk are social work, where it is rumoured the number of social workers will be cut from five to two and occupational therapy, where it is said the number of therapists will be halved ? from six to three.
Yesterday board chief execuive David Meates indicated he was aware of the rumours but refused to lay them to rest.
Mr Meates said emotive information being bandied about was based only on benchmark figures used to examine the hospital's services.
Benchmarking is the way organisations compare themselves with others to ensure they are delivering or providing services efficiently and adequately.
The building of a new hospital was an ideal time to assess hospital departments, Mr Meates said.
An extensive examination of staff and service makeup is being held as part of the rationalisation of health services in the Wairarapa region, he said.
While talk of rationalisation often means job cuts, Mr Meates would not be drawn on whether some staff will lose their jobs.
While emotive stories were worrying staff, the detailed process had been well received by most, with many good suggestions resulting, he said.
"The consultation process with staff is still going on, and we will know in about a fortnight what is happening," he said.
Mr Meates said to put the staff involvement into perspective, there had been more than 300 user groups meetings, 100 submissions had been considered from staff, and around 100 staff had attended feedback sessions.
"There are some professional issues that need to be clarified and we have to make sure we have the right staff mix", he said.
"It is too soon to say exactly what will happen".
As part of the consultation process, the board had brought in an independent health analyst, John Bissett, who works in Australia and New Zealand, to help it understand the benchmarking process.
Mr Bissett was brought in last week at the request of staff.
Another specialist, Karen Osborne, who works closely with staff through major re-structuring, has been seconded from the Hawke's Bay District Heath Board to work with Masterton staff.
There has also been talk in hospital circles that hip replacements could become day surgery once the new hospital is finished.
But Mr Meates said while there are new techniques for such surgery, it was the leading edge of technology and was certainly not going to be offered at Masterton yet.
Mr Meates said that in the next couple of weeks, the staffing issues will "turn the corner" and things should settle.
A memo to all staff outlining where the consultation process was at, was circulated to all staff today.
Health boss refuses to rule out hospital job losses
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