Sweeping reforms to the public health system have been met with cautious optimism on the West Coast.
But there is also concern that the region could lose its community voice in the running of local health services.
Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
In the biggest shake-up of the sector in decades, all district health boards will be disbanded, to be replaced by one new authority, Health NZ, which will plan health services for the whole country.
The new body will have district offices and four regional divisions.
A new Māori Health Authority, with the power to directly commission health services for tangata whenua, is also part of the mix.
A West Coast patient died last year because hospital staff failed to realise the person s condition had deteriorated and did not transfer them in time to a tertiary-level hospital.
Te Nikau Hospital & Health Centre in Greymouth.
Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
It was one of five serious adverse events reported by the West Coast District Health Board for the 2019-20 year and the only one leading to the death of a patient.
Serious adverse events are those which result in significant additional treatment, major loss of function, are life threatening or lead to an unexpected death. DHBs around the country must report such incidents to the Health Quality and Safety Commission and review them with the aim of avoiding repeats.
Is rural generalism best for the Coast?
In recent weeks, various medics and their union have - unusually for the profession - aired their views in this paper on the use of rural generalists , a new breed of doctor increasingly being employed on the West Coast to work both in hospitals and at GP clinics.
Te Nikau Hospital & Health Centre, Greymouth.
Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
For the West Coast District Health Board, rural generalists or rural health specialists, as they re also known, are a godsend: the answer to the region s perennial difficulties in attracting specialists and GPs. But the senior doctors union, the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, has warned of their potential to displace more highly-trained doctors, and ultimately reduce West Coast residents access to that level of care. What is the community supposed to make of this? What exactly are rural generalists and how safe are people in their hands?