Another attempt for cardiac unit

Press, 24 March 1988, Page 3

Another attempt for cardiac unit

(Another attempt, to establish (a cardiac surgery unit in | Christchurch will be made by the Canterbury Hospital Board. The! (board received a report yesterday from its cardiac ; services sub-com-mittee | which irecommendpd that the; board ask: for) a service development grant to establish a cardiac unit at Princess Margaret Hospital. The unit, Consisting of a theatre! and a six-bed in-tensive-hare area, would cost; $2;5 million to build and e;quip and abiout another $2.5 million'a year tb staff and maintain. The ; board has been trying! to establish cardiac surgery services i(n Canterbury! for - the last 17 years] ; | . Tfie ( cardiac services subcommittee | was formed late last year to consider recommendations made by an Auckland ! cardiologist, Mr Allan Kerr, in al report commissioned by the board, pi;!; .) ■ ( ! The sub-committee said that if was not feasible for the' ward to fund any new development from! within existing resources,| which was the option put forward |by the Lang Cardiac Surgical Services (Review Committee early last year. I ■: As an . underfunded board — by $10.6 (million

in 1986-87 and $14.9; million 'in 1987-88 —■ Canterbury j was eligible for service '! development grants for new services, the sub-committee; said. Such grants would pay for the cardiac unit. The committee recommended (that the board ask the ( Health Department to give “early and favourable” consideration to a request for a service development grant to pay for the unit. I I '( Board members greeted the sub-committee’s report with enthusiasm. The board’s chairman, Mr Tom Grigg, said it was quite clear that a community the! size of Canterbury, with 350,000 people, should have a range of medical’ services including cardiac surgery. In his report, Mr Kerr had talked; of Canterbury patients being disadvantaged by liaving to travel for surgery. Quoting from Mr Kerr’s report, Mr IjGrigg said that a few Canterbury patients who would S have benefited from emergency surgery died each! year because they were! too ill to be transported to a surgical unit. ( A decision by the Wellington Hospital Board to reduce the! number of bypass operations each week from 10 to five

would, fuftherj disadvantage Canterbury patients, said Mr Grigg] While few (Canterbury patients iwere sent to Wellington fo(r surgery, the decision would make the waiting lists for surgery at the Dunedin and Auckland! cardiac units much longer, lie said. The( sub-committee’s report would be (sent, to the Director-General j; of Health with th[e appropriate references, said Mr Gri gg- [II (I !' ' If approval was given byj June it was likely that the unit |woul|d be built and ready in two years. After the meeting, Mr Grigg! said: he (was confident that; this time the unit would go The board 1 had talked I with the Minister, (of Health, Mr Caygill, about the; unit and had received a sympathetic response. i ! ’ 1 : U:-. Mr ( Kerr’s report recommended tl(iat| a| combined; public and private service (be (established with | a limited i unit at Princess (Margaret; Hospital and a similar; unit at the Southern Cross Hospital.). ( The only bpard; member io express concern about the proposal was Mr (David Close,; who queried the (cost-effective-ness, (of two I cardiac units in Christchurch. ;