Buller doctors quit amid controversy

Press, 28 November 1980, Page 5

Buller doctors quit amid controversy

Westport reporter Controversy again surrounds the medical staffing of Buller Hospital after the surprise resignations earlier this month of Dr Elisabeth Galloway and Dr Paul Galloway. Thd-wie husban'd-and wife team arrived in Westport with their baby daughter last January to fill the posts of medical perintendent and medical officers, posts which had been left vacant since the middle of 1979. They were supposed to stay for two years but the demands put on them by the hospital routine and raising a young child, coupled with criticism of some members of the nursing staff led to the resignations. A letter to the West Coast Hospital Board spelling out their criticism of the staff resulted in the baord’s asking for an apology when it said that an investigation had proved the complaints to be unfounded. This demand, plus a ruling at the November meeting of the Buller Hospital committee that the Galloways’ letter of resignation coqld not be discussed in open meeting, has caused a furore.

A Westport general practitioner, Dr R. Lentle, is most upset about the treatment given the Galloways and has declined to provide relief cover at the hospital between the time the Galloways leave and the board can provide permanent replacements.

Dr Lentle wants the board to investigate thoroughly the Galloways’ complaints. He will refuse to serve on the relieving roster of General Practitioners until it does. The roster was used successfully in the six months it took from July, 1979, to find a replacement for the long-serving medical superintendent and surgeon, Mr R. Bhattacharya, and a shortterm medical officer, both of whom left within a few weeks of each other. To work efficiently, the roster will need the cooperation of all doctors in the Buller area. There are only five, and. so Dr Lentle’s decision will be a severe blow to the board and the hospital generally. The board is already advertising the two posts and still hopes to be able to get locum cover until permanent appointments are made.