Birth pangs? Hit the road | Manawatu-Wanganui News | Local News in Manawatu-Wanganui

About half Wanganui's expectant mothers will have to travel to Palmerston North Hospital to give birth if a plan being considered by the Whanganui District Health Board is approved.

If it gets the go ahead it will directly affect up to 400 local women, about half the number who would normally give birth at Wanganui Hospital each year.

This is the nub of a regional women's health services proposal released to the Chronicle yesterday, a plan devised by senior clinicians and management to overcome recruiting difficulties that have dogged the hospital for at least a decade. While the hospital has turned to locums in the past, senior staff argue that that compromises patient safety.

The proposal has been kept under wraps since it was presented to a WDHB workshop before Christmas.

Last week the Chronicle broke news a significant change to maternity services was in the wind and had been included in a plan drawn up by medical and management staff at both Whanganui and MidCentral DHBs.

It was to have been discussed at a WDHB committee meeting last Friday but that was delayed a week to give Health Minister Tony Ryall a chance to consider it.

Julie Patterson, WDHB chief executive, told the Chronicle that everyone recognised that the proposal would have a significant impact on the communities, particularly women and their families who live in and around Wanganui.

"We recognise that the proposed change will cause disruption for those women and their families who need to travel," Mrs Patterson said.

"And the proposed change is also very difficult for the independent lead maternity carers who may not be able to continue to support their women in Palmerston North."

The plan means that Wanganui district women having a normal pregnancy, labour and birth, will continue to have their babies in their local birthing centres, including Wanganui Hospital. But services will be provided at Palmerston North Hospital for those women who require specialist obstetrics and gynaecological care, and for those having a normal pregnancy who arrange it with their lead maternity carer (LMC). The proposed plan does not include paediatric and neonatal care.

Digby Ngan Kee, regional clinical director obstetrics and gynaecology, said the plan was aimed at ensuring the safety and quality of services for women and their babies.

Dr Ngan Kee said while both DHBs had good LMC services available to the women of their districts, both boards had difficulty recruiting permanent obstetricians and gynaecologists.

He said Wanganui has had a serious staffing crisis that has affected services for around a decade and while there had been a Birth pangs? Head to Palmerston N

heavy reliance on high turnover locums, that situation compromised patient safety.

He said while both DHBs strived for excellence in women's health, the staffing situation meant they were struggling to provide the desirable level and quality.

"We've explored many alternatives and, from a clinical perspective, the proposed change is the only viable option," Dr Ngan Kee said.

He said both hospitals had been left with a patchwork staffing arrangement, especially in Wanganui Hospital, but it was a problem many New Zealand provincial hospitals were facing.

"It's widely recognised that there is a worldwide shortage of obstetricians and gynaecologists, that smaller provincial hospitals such as ours are particularly disadvantaged by this, and that the situation is unlikely to change," Dr Ngan Kee said.

Mark Stegmann, a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist who worked at Wanganui Hospital, said both boards were concerned that existing staff could continue to work the level of after-hours calls needed to maintain a safe and sustainable service at both hospitals.

Clinicians believed that consolidating specialist care on a single site (Palmerston North) was the best way forward.

"This will ensure we can provide the best service possible and attract the medical specialists we need to achieve this," he said.

THE PLAN

Clinicians from both DHBs have developed a service which centres on much of the specialist care, especially that which is unplanned, being provided from Palmerston North Hospital

LMC services and some of the planned specialist services will continue to be provided from local birthing centres in Wanganui, Taihape, Raetihi, Dannevirke, and Levin.

Members of both boards are being asked to support the proposal in principle, to allow a public involvement in the process to take place

Final decisions on the plan will be made once public feedback has been gathered and considered

More information: Go to www.wdhb.org.nz or www.midcentraldhb.govt.nz

To submit feedback in advance of the public meetings, email communications@wdhb.org.nz and communications@midcentraldhb.govt.nz