In criticising the Wakatipu Health Trust’s “needs assessment” of Queenstown’s Lakes District Hospital, Otago-Southland District Health Board boss Brian Rousseau admits the number of aged-care beds is tight, and access to local outpatient clinics requires further investigation.

Discontent about public health issues became evident when an overwhelming number of local families expressed concerns and criticisms of treatment they’d received from SDHB when completing WHT’s recent online survey.
The survey’s general consensus was that Wakatipu folk would like greater input into the running of their hospital and would like to see more equitable and transparent funding from SDHB.

The recent needs-assessment report has confirmed what most of us have known for many years – SDHB has been continually shortchanging us and fobbing us off.

Promises on elderly-care have been made and broken, and those needing 24-hour or dementia care are still being told they must leave family and loved ones to move from the town where they’ve made their home for many years to go to places hundreds of miles away where they know no one.

Five years ago, I attended a public meeting called by SDHB about LDH maternity services.

A “Use It Or Lose It” message was put to the meeting and the general consensus was for a more collaborative effort to be made by SDHB so mothers-to-be could have more confidence in the mix of skills available to them at LDH to encourage a larger percentage to have babies here. That all came to naught as well.

And why is it we have the highest ratio of patientstransferred to other hospitals, much to the detriment and disruption of patients and their families?

Instead of criticising and rejecting WHT findings, why can’t SDHB take on board the discontent publicly revealed within the community and give us our due?

SDHB chairperson Paul Menzies publicly stated at the health needs assessment meeting that his board had empathy with WHT’s efforts and was listening intently to concerns expressed – and SDHB is determined to do the right thing for the Wakatipu.

Well, SDHB – here’s your chance to put your money where your mouth is. The ball is in your court: the time has come for you to admit that the people of the Wakatipu have been getting a raw deal for years.

Surely, instead of criticism, a more constructive measure for Brian Rousseau and SDHB would be to call a meeting with the concerned public, WHT and medical professionals to discuss equitable access, inadequate funding – and how they plan to keep pace with the projected increase in local demand for health services

Lorraine Cooper is a local health advocate and former Queenstown mayoress. She spearheaded the first public meeting examining the resort’s elderly care crisis in May, 2007