Chris Moyes

I am a retired paediatrician who worked 43 years at Whakatane Hospital and went to great lengths, often at considerable personal cost, to maintain a continuous 24/7 secondary care service.

I was therefore appalled to hear from colleagues (who are still working and feel unable to speak publically) that they have been informed that the obstetric service will be downgraded to a birthing centre only for the next 12 months.

I realise that there was going to be a temporary problem due to the departure of the current obstetric specialists but would expect that to be filled as quickly as possible, if necessary, using short -term locums while awaiting more permanent appointments.  

My long past experience has shown that this will not only mean the inconvenience and expense of escorted transfers to Tauranga for very routine procedures but comes with a real risk of a bad outcome to some of the babies.  Furthermore, it affects the viability and effectiveness of the paediatric department and makes it difficult to maintain a fully staffed neonatal unit.

I have also been told that there are applicants who may be available – would they just be based in Tauranga and do occasional outpatients in Whakatāne? They need to be resident here.

There is no logic in shutting the department for a year unless the real unstated purpose is to make the downgrade permanent.

I have no confidence in Te Whatu Ora’s commitment to maintain secondary care services in Whakatāne despite the excellent service that has been provided over the years. Certainly, hospital staff are getting a strong message that they are a very low priority.

I believe community leaders, iwi, politicians and people need to make it very clear we need these services.

We marched in the 1980s to prevent a downgrade of Whakatāne Hospital – unless there is evidence of a change of heart from Te Whatu Ora in the next few weeks we may need to do so again.