Hospital name change slated

By AMIE RICHARDSON and KATHERINE HOBY

No rationale exists for changing the name of Starship children's hospital, says Starship Foundation's executive director, Patricia Wright.

Auckland District Health Board chairman Wayne Brown said he wanted Starship to be renamed Auckland Sick Children's Hospital.

Mr Brown said it would strip away some of the mystique surrounding hospitals, and would not appeal to children like Starship did.

However, Mrs Wright, who heads the hospital's fundraising arm, said the name Starship had been supported for 10 years.

"I can't see any rationale for changing it at the moment. It's a name everyone knows and respects."

Cancer Society medical director Dr Peter Dady, already incensed by the suggestion of patient cuts at Starship, called the idea "ludicrous".

"For one thing, how much is it going to cost?" he said. "There's always enough money for exercises like rebranding but never enough for patients.

"And to say kids want to go to hospital - he's mad."

National's associate health spokesman, Dr Paul Hutchison, said the hospital was given its name after a lot of discussion with the people of Auckland.

* What do you think of the Starship's name? E-mail us at newsdesk@herald.co.nz