Health service cuts will be fiercely resisted — Workman

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 13, Issue 590, 13 June 1995, Page 3

Health service cuts will be fiercely resisted — Workman

Ruapehu mayor Garrick Workman has provided the following response to Good Health Wanganui's plans to cut Waimarino health services: I want to assure Waimarino and Waiouru residents that any move to 'exit' (remove) or reduce services provided from the Waimarino Health Centre in Raetihi, either at the present site or from the new purpose built facility in Seddon Street, will be fiercely resisted and every effort made to ensure there is no change to the level of service currently provided. The suggestion that Taihape' s services will be bolstered at the expense of services in the Waimarino is completely unacceptable. Many of us in this district have worked extremely hard in recent years developing a health care plan for the Waimarino/ Waiouru area that we believed to be realistic, sustainable and appropriate for the area. There has certainly been no hint or suggestion from either the Central Regional Health Authority (CRHA) or Good Health Wanganui (GHW) that our plan required any change at all. We will not accept a lesser service now or in the future, simply because GHW and the CRHA cannot agree on a contract price for the delivery of health services in rural areas. Rather than over-react at this stage I would urge resi-

dents to wait until the CRHA has responded to the GHW Business Plan and determined just what level of service we can expect to have provided from the Waimarino Health Centre. As it stands at present, the CRHA has not contemplated the withdrawal of any services. Indeed, the first CRHA chief executive Murray Bums knew of the GHW proposals for health centres in the Wanganui rural region was as a result of my phone call to him lastThursday . If the CRHA (and I repeat, if) states an intention to withdraw services it must give six months notice of any such intention and community consultation must be undertaken in the event of that situation occurring. In the mean time I have spoken to several members of the Waimarino Taskforce on Health and suggested that we meet to di scuss this latest development as soon as possible. The district councillors have also been briefed on the matter. If community action is required as a result of any changes that might be contemplated either by the CRHA or GHW then the public will be given every opportunity to be involved in any action the Taskforce considers appropriate to take.

Garrick

Workman,

Ruapehu District mayor