Health victory yet issue remains

Editorial

There would have been a lot of relieved people around Wanganui over the weekend when news went public that the city's maternity services may be set for a reprieve.

Not least the members of the Whanganui District Health Board and all those involved in providing medical services to Wanganui and the surrounding environs.

In an open letter to the Wanganui community, published in Saturday's Chronicle, the health board announced it was "reasonably confident" of sustaining an ongoing 24-hour, seven-day-a-week women's health service for the foreseeable future.

A third obstetric and gynaecology specialist from the UK has accepted an offer of employment, and a role has also been offered to a fourth specialist.

Up until this point, it appeared the regional women's health service plan - which would have seen up to half of Wanganui's births sent to Palmerston North Hospital - was not far short of being a fait accompli.

However, before the celebrations begin, it's worth bearing in mind that now is not the time to let down our guard.

All we have bought is time, a commodity which, as anyone over the age of 30 will surely attest, seems to be passing ever-faster.

This problem has, to some extent, crept up on the vast populace and we're still not much further enlightened as to how things got this bad.

Through people power and the health board's recruitment efforts, a solution appears to be in place. But never again must we get so close to losing these services.

If nothing else, publicity around the future of maternity services has illuminated an issue which otherwise would have likely remained out of the public eye until it was too late. It almost proved to be the case this time.

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