The government will be urged to ensure the new Dunedin Hospital provides crucial tertiary level health services for the Southern region in a petition being handed over at parliament today (Wednesday November 6).

A statement from the New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) said the current Dunedin Hospital “is in a state of disrepair”.

The hospital provides a range of tertiary level health services - including lifesaving care such as surgery and lifesaving and cancer treatments - to patients throughout Otago and the South Island, the NZNO said.

The 34,406-signature petition from the NZNO calls for the new hospital to be fully funded as planned after the government in September said it would be scaled back to reduce costs.

The proposed downgrades are a false economy, NZNO delegate Linda Smillie said.

"A scaled back hospital will increase costs over the long term because it will reduce the clinical capacity to care for an increasingly ageing population.

"Nurses will not be able to provide the appropriate level of care their patients need. This will lead to patient harm and loss of life."

Health Action Wānaka (HAW) spokesperson Monique Mayze told the Wānaka App the group supported the NZNO’s advocacy efforts.

“Here in the Upper Clutha, we rely on the specialist services delivered in Dunedin because we cannot access many of these services locally,” Monique said.

“While some people are suggesting that a reduced spend on the hospital rebuild in Dunedin will translate into more dollars spent on developing healthcare infrastructure in the Central-Lakes area, we don’t believe there is any guarantee of this.”

She said even with increased hospital services based in the Central-Lakes area, Upper Clutha residents will continue to require access to more specialised tertiary-level health services based in Dunedin.  

“When the new hospital in Dunedin was designed and approved, its scope was based on patient need. That need hasn’t changed. In fact, that need is growing rapidly as our population grows,” she said.

NZNO representatives were scheduled to be at Parliament at 12:30pm with the Dunedin City Council delegation led by mayor Jules Radich.

PHOTO: Wānaka App