Health integration back on track after “helpful” feedback from community
The Integrated Management Group has received 62 feedback forms and letters from the Golden Bay Community in the weeks since the December Open Days held at Takaka and Collingwood.
“The level of interest from people has been very encouraging,” IMG chair John Peters said. “We handed out feedback forms on both days and also invited people to clip the form published in The GB Weekly. It was also available on our website <www.gbhealth.org.nz>.
An analysis of the results show:
A strong majority of respondents support the concept of integrated health care for Golden Bay.
Based on current information a majority of people believe the hospital site is the most logical for an integrated facility.
People strongly believe it is essential to preserve rest home care in Golden Bay and that an integrated facility is a sensible and attractive option, though a number of people would still prefer the Joan Whiting facility to remain open, whether or not integration proceeds.
There are some concerns about how a community trust would operate, based mainly on the current lack of information about capital and operating funding of an integrated facility. Concern is also based on the financial problems faced by the Joan Whiting Memorial Trust and a belief the community might have to meet any shortfall in funding from that received from government and other sources.
There was detailed useful feedback on the draft trust deed, which is being incorporated in an updated version and will be circulated to interested parties and made available on the website.
There were a number of questions, some of which have already been raised. All of the questions posed will be answered in a new website section called Open Day Questions.
“We sincerely appreciate the time and effort people went to in providing their feedback. It’s very thoughtful and includes some great ideas and comments,” Mr Peters said.
“We particularly appreciated the comments people provided regarding the trust deed, which was at an early draft stage. The IMG had a discussion on trust options at this week’s meeting where it considered the input from the community and how it can address the concerns and suggestions raised. Once we develop a new draft we’ll present this to the community.”
The feedback has all been transcribed and will be placed on the website this week. The total commentary runs to more than 13,000 words or 22 A4 pages and the comments have been divided up into the relevant questions. For those without internet access, a limited number of copies of the transcribed commentaries will be available from Heartlands, the Takaka library, Tasman District Council offices, the Post Shop in Collingwood and the Bainham store.
In addition to considering the feedback, IMG last night decided to look at trust structure options. Over the next few weeks IMG will be continuing to evaluate site options and will be bringing together staff of the hospital, medical centre and rest home to work through how an integrated facility can best function.
Over the coming weeks IMG will continue to keep the community informed about progress on a number of project streams. Once it is in a position to present a more finalised proposal on the project, it will report back to the community, through a public meeting/s and other communications.
Key questions from the Open Days
1. I was very concerned that there was no information available about the financing of this proposal. I would like to know:
a. How much is it going to cost?
b. Who is going to pay for it?
c. What fundraising do you plan to do within the Golden Bay community?
The cost will depend on which site we use and what site and road works are required. We have not publicised any figures because we do not want to influence a tender process. The capital cost will be paid for from the proceeds of the contributing sites, a prudent level of borrowings that can be serviced from income, and – if required - some nationally raised funds from charitable and other sources. IMG has no intention to raise funds in the community through sausage sizzles and the like.
2. If the trust board find themselves in the situation of the Joan Whiting board, with insufficient resources to operate profitably, what will happen? Who will bail them out?
A big focus of the IMG is to ensure that the integrated facility is well structured with adequate capital and ongoing income. It is one of the reasons this project is taking some time to complete – we don’t want to make hasty, ill-judged decisions. Integration offers efficiencies not available to three stand-alone businesses, and this ensures the viability of each of the services that may not otherwise be possible.
3. It has been stated on a number of occasions that the scheme would not proceed unless the people of Golden Bay want it, yet little thought seems to have been given to the question of how to find out if we actually want it. How do you plan to do this?
The feedback so far shows there is good public support for integration but people want to know more about how it will work. The Open Days and the media and website information have provided people with updates and the opportunity to ask questions and in turn the community has given us some valuable feedback. When we get a bit further down the track we will be reporting back to the community through a public meeting/s and other communications.
4. Would trustees be voted on in an open election? How many trustees would simply be appointed from vested interests? Why not have people stand for those places and have an election at the same time as the local body elections?
The feedback we received on the structure of the trust has been very helpful and we are now working through some potential options. The trust deed is still a work in progress but we do understand the need for accountability and the public’s right to know.
5. Why is the IMG not paying more attention to the importance of continuing the X-ray facility available in Golden Bay? This is an area of major consideration for this isolated community, and is an area that reduces costs not only to patients but also to the DHB.
The IMG knows that access to radiology services is an important need for the community and one of the issues IMG will be looking at is how we continue to provide radiology services for Golden Bay.
For further information please call Carolyn McLellan on 524 8132 or John Peters on 0800 8355 342.
Submitted by Integrated Health Group
