5. BARBARA STEWART (NZ First) Link to this
to the Minister of Health
Has he received any reports indicating that maternity services for rural women are at crisis point and urgent action is needed to improve the situation; if so, what action, if any, is he taking as the Minister responsible?
Hon PETE HODGSON (Minister of Health) Link to this
Yes, I have seen the media statement by Dr Don Simmers over the weekend that the member refers to. The entire section 88 maternity services notice is under review by the Ministry of Health in consultation with the New Zealand Medical Association, the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners, the New Zealand College of Midwives, and others. I can assure the member that the issues facing rural New Zealand are on the agenda as part of that review, not least because of Dr Simmers’ comments.
Does he consider it satisfactory that, for example, Queenstown women are faced with travelling for 3 hours to Invercargill, or for 4½ hours to Dunedin, to give birth, because of the absence of local medical expertise?
What Dr Simmers suggests in Queenstown, for example, is working well in other parts of Southland—for example, Gore, which has a level 2 maternity facility that has 80 to 100 births each year. The Southland District Health Board is keen for local practitioners to provide a greater level of service. It has held meetings in Queenstown about this and is happy to work with local practitioners.
Moana MackeyMaternity outcomes for women are such that the number of maternal deaths in New Zealand in the 10 years to 2003, which is the period for which I have the latest statistics, has fallen from 17 to seven per 100,000 live births. This is tremendous progress and is a testament to the work of New Zealand’s world-class maternity workforce.
Does he consider that the Canadian and Australia solution of training doctors in rural areas to perform instrument-assisted deliveries, caesarean sections, and neonatal and maternal emergency care could be used in New Zealand?
Prospectively—and, of course, a lot of general practitioners in rural areas have some obstetric experience. The point being made by Dr Simmers is that they are getting older, and that is the issue that needs to be addressed in the review.
What assurances of improved services can he offer women in provincial centres such as Wanganui, Greymouth, and Gisborne, where specialist cover is described by the New Zealand Medical Association as, at best, “less than ideal”?
There are certainly problems in Wanganui at the moment, as the member will be aware. The problems in Greymouth were last month; this month it has two obstetricians. The same thing can be said for Masterton, which ran into difficulty last year; those situations are also resolved. In other words, from time to time someone retires and a gap appears.