Hanmer hospital role defended

Press, 26 July 1989, Page 3

Hanmer hospital role defended

If Queen Mary Hospital in Hanmer Springs were closed, there would be little or nothing to replace it, said the director of the Mental Health Foundation, Dr Max Abbott, yesterday. Closing Queen Mary was one of the costcutting options put forward last week by a Canterbury Area Health Board task force. Dr Abbott said the argument that the money used to run the hospital could be used more costeffectively to set up and strengthen other centres was not being considered because the board’s priority was to save money, not to provide a more effective service for drugdependent people.

Treatment centres nationally were already under strain, he said. Queen Mary had a long waiting list, which demon-

strated the pressing need for treatment. The hospital was an important national resource, with a role in developing new approaches to treatment, research and the training of counsellors and health professionals. It had helped many thousands of New Zealanders over the years. Dr Abbott said the effective treatment provided by hospitals such as Queen Mary saved the community a lot of money by lessening illness, unemployment, work absenteeism, industrial accidents, and by reducing drink-driving accidents and various criminal activities. It was unreasonable to expect the Canterbury Area Health Board to meet the cost of what was a national specialist service, he said.