Surgeon's resignation hits Timaru Hospital

The resignation of a top surgeon from Timaru Hospital has left it sitting like "a house of cards", says the executive director of the Association of Medical Specialists, Ian Powell.

Experienced general surgeon Neil Harding-Roberts will leave in June, exacerbating the hospital's staffing woes. Senior doctors at Timaru Hospital have been taking rolling strike action over the past few weeks over failed employment agreement negotiations. Dr Harding-Roberts said he felt he had no option but to resign after continued "stone-walling" by management. Surgeons now frequently had to cancel operations because of lack of beds, personnel or other resources.