Sheila Russell

I am extremely disturbed to find yet another section of our hospital is being whittled away.

We chose to move to Whakatāne as a place to live because it had the added blessing of a good hospital.

Services have already been quietly whittled away.

We no longer have the right to elect a district health representative.

The new mental health building promised to replace the present tired building is somehow materialising at Tauranga Hospital instead.

The former full laboratory service has been replaced by the private Pathlab.

The ridiculous situation where people travel to Tauranga and back the next day for ophthalmologist treatment, often finding themselves in the private queue [paying] when even cataract operations can be carried out in conditions far less safe than Whakatāne Hospital. One of those specialists could be based in Whakatāne.

Why is there no full prostate service here? The waste of money, time, and work hours is beyond belief.

I have watched Taumarunui Hospital, which specialised in orthopaedic, particularly in hip operations from all over the North Island, closed.

I have watched the Ōpōtiki Hospital, so necessary for the far Eastern Bay patients, closed.

The scream that there is insufficient staff has been largely created by the doctors and ophthalmologists, banding together just over 20 years ago to decide to limit the number of new medical entrants to the medical training facilities which even now still have physical room for more.

The number of overseas applicants for vacancies in our health system was capped. It is a relief to see this week that the number of overseas applicants allowed to sit our entry exam will be almost doubled.

Instead of accepting the sneaky downgrading, we, because our population is expanding, should be actively insisting on extension.

If Canada can maintain an excellent public health system, why are we putting up with what is fast becoming a privatised health system on Americanised lines where you pay, or you don’t get into hospital. You don’t get into A and E.

We pay for our hospitals through our tax system; we should not be paying twice by being forced into a private system.

Chris Moyes, former paediatrician at Whakatāne Hospital has expressed his concerns.

John Malcolm, paediatric researcher at Whakatāne Hospital, asks if a public meeting is called for? A meeting to organise a march.

Yes. Whakatāne and district residents marched once before to insist on our hospital being kept open.

A petition is great, and necessary, but we need to show how deeply we feel about this issue.

A downgraded hospital will not get staff.

A downgraded hospital will not get facilities.

A downgraded hospital is just too easy to close.

No hospital, and a town just goes backwards.

I, for one, am willing to help organise a march to express solidarity on this issue.