Issue4

Does the DHB in Invercargill/Otago have a conflict of interest?

The Southland District Hospital Board only owns and governs two public hospitals delivering secondary health services - Kew Hospital and Lakes District Hospital in Queenstown. It also provides funding to some other community owned hospitals like Gore. The regional hospitals previously under the control of the old Otago DHB are all community owned/governed so perhaps this augers well for Queenstown's future.

Lakes District  Hospital has been viewed by the SDHB as a "ward" of Kew hospital in Invercargill. The lack of a strategic plan reinforces this view and the dominance of   Invercargill based board members creates a natural focus and bias. It has become routine procedure to transfer patients from Queenstown to Invercargill - with little consideration of the disruption to the lives of supporting families and friends that results.

The Trust has been tracking ambulance transfers from Queenstown to Invercargill and the graph is rising. In one month alone in 2009, there were more than 90 ambulance patient transfers. As the numbers rise towards 1000 patient transfers/year, the Trust believes it is overdue for delivering a greater level of diagnostic and treatment services within the district. These numbers of course do not include the many patients who make their own way to Invercargill or Dunedin for tests and treatment that are not available in Queenstown.

Two years ago the Trust approached the DHB about the purchase of a CT-Scanner. The SDHB responded firmly -  even if the community were to raise the money itself, it would not allow a CT-Scanner at Lakes District Hospital. It is the Trust's view that this decision is a clear example of a conflict of interest.

With the recent merger of the two Boards - Otago & Southland, and the creation of the new Southern District Health Board, it remains unclear how this will impact health services in Queenstown. However, we bvelieve this is a positive step which should help eliminate the artificial boundaries which previously prevented some patients receiving the most appropriate care on a more direct basis.