Cath Cronin is the deputy chief executive for Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora Te Manawa Taki, and has oversight of the region’s health services.

I have recently spent time in Whakatane, Ōpōtiki and Kawerau, meeting with local and iwi leaders, service providers and the wider community. I know how important our maternity services in the Eastern Bay and Coast are, and I have heard your very real concerns.

Keeping pregnant women and babies safe couldn’t be more important.

We are not downgrading services at Whakatāne Hospital, quite the opposite - we want to invest and do more here. But we have to deal with the shortage of obstetrics and gynaecology specialists we are faced with.

The current situation with primary birthing services at Whakatāne Hospital is not what anyone wants, and I am committed to restoring secondary services as soon as we can get new senior doctors on the ground. I agree that we could have done things better and I’m sorry for the concern the community is experiencing.

Alongside finding specialist doctors, my priority right now is the safety of pregnant women/people and babies.

If you or someone you care for is pregnant, you need to know that a full midwife-based service remains in Whakatāne Hospital for those who are likely to have an uncomplicated birth.

If you need or are likely to need help from a doctor with your birth, this will happen at Tauranga Hospital.  While you are pregnant, your care will continue at Whakatāne Hospital with the support of Tauranga doctors if required.

An important first step is to enrol with a midwife or Lead Maternity Carer early in your pregnancy. (www.findyourmidwife.co.nz is an excellent site to help with this). They can assess any risks, talk to you about your wishes for the birth, and help you plan ahead. Your midwife will make a plan with the Tauranga Obstetric team if that’s needed.

We also have a 24/7 phone line you can call with any question that is on your mind about your or your baby.

0800 429 328 is a dedicated line, with a midwife who will be able to help answer your questions at any hour of the day.

If you do need to give birth in Tauranga, we’ll cover the costs of travel, accommodation and food for you and your partner/whānau up-front.  We’ll make it as simple as possible, with vouchers for different services. You won’t need to spend your own money and then ask for reimbursement.

The biggest concerns I have heard are around what will happen if your birth is more complicated than predicted or an emergency arises. Not every birth goes as specialists hope, so we have a dedicated 24/7 ambulance for transfers to Tauranga Hospital, which is in addition to normal ambulance numbers for the area. There is also the option of an air ambulance service.

For a community with such a big geographic spread, the distance from specialist health services is always going to be an issue, but we won’t hesitate to use every resource we have to get you where you can be cared for.

Ultimately, the best way to ensure patient safety is to get back to full maternity services in Whakatāne, and we’ve had some early signs of success with recruitment. I’ll update you on this when I can, but we have had good international interest from senior doctors about working at Whakatāne Hospital. We won’t instantly be able to fill positions, but we will be doing so as soon as we can get the right doctors with the right skills for this community.

On the broader organisational front, I want to ensure we can, and will, do things better in future. To that end, if have just appointed a director to head a Taskforce overseeing how we manage the situation with maternity and gynaecology services across Eastern and Western Bays.

I will appoint a Whakatāne Hospital General Manager. This will be a local person who has a deep understanding of the community and the specific needs you have who will work with clinical partners to strengthen leadership and teams at Whakatāne Hospital

Part of Health New Zealand’s direction is to make sure our regions can make decisions and provide care closer to the communities we serve, and the Whakatāne General Manager will help us do this for your area. Uplifting local leadership and clinical partnership is something we all want to see.

Along with leadership, we must also have community partnership. I have mentioned meeting with key groups in person recently, and as a result we have agreed to work productively with Iwi Maori Partnership Boards, community providers and iwi to help shape practical improvements and keep communities updated and engaged as we work reinstate maternity services.

If you’re worried or just have unanswered questions, call 0800 429 328, and speak with one of our midwives. They will provide you with the information and support you need.

Staffing issues in Whakatāne will not be resolved instantly, but we have a plan and a commitment to have services restored as quickly as possible and keep women/pregnant people and babies safe while we achieve this.