Call to arms over women's health | Manawatu-Wanganui News | Local News in Manawatu-Wanganui

The call has gone out for another public protest when the Whanganui District Health Board meets on Friday with the contentious regional women's health service proposal on the agenda.

Deb Frederikse, who has been at the forefront of earlier community-driven protests to save district health services, wants as many people as possible at the meeting.

"We're a region of deprivation and we've really got to think this through and stand up and say no to this plan," she said yesterday.

Ms Frederikse also advocates setting up a group to fight the proposal and believes the issue would attract support from across a wide spectrum in the region.

Many people sought some form of action, she said, and the current issue was similar to the "ructions" of 2006 when Wanganui Hospital's obstetrics and gynaecology services were in dire straits.

"This time it seems as if there is a much stronger push to shift many services to Palmerston North. But I can't recall hearing anything in the last 12 months about any such shift.

"Some may have given up easily on this but as a community we cannot. This is just not logical."

Ms Frederikse said the city had seen too many services "leak" to the Manawatu.

The main issues were what was expected of a regional hospital and what were the minimum services that must be provided for the city and district's population.

"Every woman giving birth should be as close as possible to capable emergency care. A one-hour ambulance ride to Palmerston North is a ridiculous proposition."

Meanwhile, Tariana Turia, Te Tai Hauauru MP and co-leader of the Maori Party, is urging Wanganui people to find a community-wide solution to the problems of Wanganui Hospital's maternity services.

Mrs Turia said the proposal, which would see at-risk mothers transferred to Palmerston North Hospital for some procedures, would have huge implications, not only for the women and their families but the community too.

"This isn't just about women birthing, this is about the future of our city."

She said families with young children would think twice about living here if the Whanganui and MidCentral district health boards signed off on the agreement.

Mrs Turia said she was surprised, given the plan's likely economic impact, that "major players" such as the chamber of commerce, employers' federation and district council would have been eager to work with the DHB to devise a strategy to attract and retain specialist gynaecologists and obstetricians.

The key issue, she said, was that Wanganui's most vulnerable families were more likely to be affected by this proposal and there was a real likelihood the majority of women who will be transferred for specialist or unplanned emergency care will be Maori.

There was concern about the ability of the ambulance services to handle increased demand just as there were a range of hidden costs for families for private travel.

Mrs Turia said this crisis was not new to Wanganui Hospital and the board had been dealing with workforce issues around the maternity service for more than a decade.

"It has to be of concern that this board has been unable to attract a specialist to our community, particularly given we are the largest of the smaller units undertaking less than 1000 births a year," Mrs Turia said.

In 2010 Wanganui had 760 births compared to 697 at Tairawhiti (East Coast), 620 at South Canterbury and 496 at Wairarapa.

"As a community we have stood shoulder to shoulder when it matters most. We must have the will to do so on this significant matter," Mrs Turia said.

Yesterday, Whanganui District Health Board chairperson Kate Joblin reiterated that the review was driven by patient safety and the sustainability of services for women and their babies, well into the future.

Mrs Joblin said despite good lead maternity carer (LMC) services available to the women of their districts, both district health boards had experienced difficulty in recruiting permanent obstetricians and gynaecologists (O&Gs;) over the past decade.

The proposal put forward by the clinical and management staff was a new service model which centred on specialist care, and especially unplanned specialist care, being provided from Palmerston North Hospital.

"The LMC services and some planned specialist services will continue to be provided from local birthing centres in Wanganui, Taihape and Raetihi."

She said the next phase would be a series of public meetings to let the public and interest groups meet with clinicians and management staff from both boards.