Hospital could lose surgery

Press, 18 May 1989, Page 6

Hospital could lose surgery

PA Gore Gore Hospital could lose its surgical services, the Southland Area Health Board confirmed yesterday.

Proposed budget cuts throughout the province were outlined yesterday at a special board meeting in Invercargill, and Eastern-Southland people were out in force making their feelings known.

More than 100 crammed into the Kew Hospital lecture theatre and listened as board chairman, Mr Lance Blaikie, said the board accepted a $4.2 million shortfall in the 1989-90 year.

It was imperative a contingency plan was mapped out before the Government announced its budget in July.

Board executives had suggested a number of cost-cutting measures and submissions would be accepted from the public until July 15.

These included the stopping of surgery at Gore Hospital, saving around $1.3 million a year. That would involve

the removal of the operating theatre, accident and emergency, and pathology, and a substantial reduction in X-ray services, Mr Blaikie said. Otherwise, surgery at Kew would have to be reduced, destroying the range and quality of services there for all Southlanders.

Mr Blaikie said Gore Hospital would be left with medical beds run by general practitioners, maternity services and psy-cho-geriatric and physchopaedic services.

It would also retain post-operative and preoperative clinics. Other likely moves were closing the Winton and Tuatapere maternity hospitals, a significant reduction in arranged admissions at Kew and a 50 per cent cut in services provided by medical social workers overall. The chief executive officer, Mr John Pannett, said 80 per cent of the board’s expenditure went on wages and salaries, and it was not unreasonable to expect the loss of 112 full-time jobs.