Essex closing ‘a shambles’

Press, 9 May 1980, Page 10

Essex closing ‘a shambles’

The member of Parliament for Christchurch Central (Mr G. W. R. Palmer) has suggested that the North Canterbury. Hospital Board was “heading into a shambles of its own making” over the closing of Essex Maternity Hospital. For the chief executive of the board (Mr R. I. Parker) to suggest that the consent of the Minister of Health (Mr Gair) to the closing of the hospital was a mere formality was ‘.‘nonsense”, Mr Palmer said. "Unless the Minister gives close personal consideration to the arguments for and against closing the hospital his consent will be legally invalid and capable of being quashed in the courts” said Mr Palmer.

The date Essex will close

was announced before the Hospitals’ Advisory Council had made a recommendation to the Minister of Health. This procedure was required by law, said Mr Palmer. The law also required the Minister of Health to give his consent and this had not yet been given. It was not even clear that the North Canterbury Hospital Board had ever formally agreed to the date, Mr Palmer said. “The people of Canterbury deserve better of their Hospital Board than high-handed dismissal of statutory requirements. I hope the board will retrieve the situation at Wednesday’s meeting.” Mr Palmer said the board’s decision should be rescinded, “if it was ever made," and the Hospitals Advisory Council and the

Minister of Health left to carry out their statutory responsibilities in the proper way. The chairman of the board (Mr T. C. Grigg) has said that he could not understand why Mr Palmer was accusing the board of not following correct procedures. The decision was made by the board in open meeting in October last year after negotiations with all doctors using the hospital. The date suggested was June 30 and this ■ was reported. by the news media at the time. “I am amazed at Mr Palmer’s statement now as in a letter to the board dated November 7, last year, he said that he understood the board’s intention was to close the hospital and he even suggested an alterna-

>,tive use for the property,”- ■ Mr Grigg said. “The board is well aware of the procedures that need 1 to be followed for closing a . hospital and it has followed ■ this tef the letter. Any sug- ; gestion otherwise is unfortut nate and ill-informed.” Mr Grigg said the board ' believed that the proposal to i close Essex would be on the • agenda of the Hospitals Advisory Council when next ! it met. I There was provision in : the Hospitals’ Act for a hospital to be temporarily • closed at the discretion of i the local board. “The board has acted in I the best interests of patients , and the decision to close the . hospital is in fact making the best use of taxpayers’ 1 money allocated to it,” he • said.