Essex closing thought near

Press, 21 April 1977, Page 6

Essex closing thought near

By

JOHN BROWN

It is believed that a decision is imminent to close Essex Maternity Hospital—because of high overheads, and a drop in the birth rate in Christchurch. General practitioners who use Essex for deliveries say that the decision to close the home as a full-time maternity unit, and perhaps give it another function within the board’s administration, is another blow against women having babies delivered by their own G.P. All 27 beds at Essex are available for the patients of general practitioners. When the hospital closes these doctors will have only the two beds a month available to each practitioner at Christchurch Women’s Hospital, and a share of the 22 beds lat Burwood Hospital maternity unit. The general practitioners say that they may be squeezed out of maternity work, which would fall completely into the hands of specialists, as has happened in Wellington. They take little solace in the 22 maternity beds available at Burwood; many doctors say the hospital is too far out of the city for most maternity patients.

The North Canterbury Hos-; I pita! Board might save more than $200,000 by closing Essex. Operating expenses, for the hospital were $328,716; [for the financial year ending !March, 1976, but only part, [of this would be saved, be-j icause the board would have' to make alternative posts' available for Essex staff. The closing of the hospital; .will cause few problems, tor \ maternity patients—provided they do not insist on their own G.P.—because there are plenty of alternative beds available in other maternity hospitals run by the hospital board. I There is not such an abun.dance of beds available however. at private maternity [hospitals. Two of these, I Wendover and St George’s, [have occupancy rates of [more than 70 per cent. This | compares with occupancy i rates of 52 per cent at Essex, ■4l per cent at Burwood, and [B9 per cent at Christchurch, I Women’s. Most general practitioners 'who use Essex believe that 'the closing will be i announced soon, but the chief ; executive of the North Canterbury Hospital Board (Mr J. IG. Laurenson) said yesterday [that he “had no statement 'for publication at this; I stage.”