Christchurch urologist Stephen Mark said there was no question the quality of service would be affected by the departures, four years after a health and disability commissioner report found "substantial clinical risk".
The former Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand president said Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand (HNZ) had contacted Christchurch urologists seeking help as it struggled with the loss of two of the hospital’s four urologists.
It had asked if they could travel south or if patients could be sent north, although nothing had been confirmed.
He would be able to help co-ordinate emergency mega-clinics once again if it got to the point where that became necessary, Mr Mark said.
Services in Dunedin would be affected, although he could not say to what degree.
"There is definitely a concern that the clinical need of the community will be under-met, and that will lead to a greater risk of delays in diagnosis and treatment."
The urological community were understanding of the situation, and some specialists from elsewhere in the country were stepping up to help out, he said.
However, that was only a short-term fix, and a long-term solution was needed.
In the past, he had been involved with the urology mega-clinics for which specialists travelled to Dunedin for long weekends to help address high demand.
He believed that option could be on the table again in the future, although there had been no formal request yet.
Mr Mark understood both the urologists who had left were looking for work elsewhere, and one was bound for Australia.
The quest for better jobs and quality of life meant that was a common occurrence in the medical field, which was underfunded in New Zealand, he said.
Two resignations might not sound like a lot, but had a big impact in such a small department.
"If you take one or two out of that, all of a sudden you create a significant issue."
In 2019, the damning health and disability commissioner report found managers at the Southern District Health Board — now HNZ Southern — were, for about three years, aware of issues with its urology service causing long delays in treatment.
It had heard from 38 patients in total and considered four cases in particular, and found delays in the assessment and treatment of patients posed a substantial clinical risk.
"Clinicians and members of the public came to expect delays, and delays became normalised," the report said.
While scathing about the historical deficiencies in the service, the report praised the southern board for its eventual response to the situation, including the mega-clinic weekends using out-of-town doctors.
In late 2019, a new hire brought the total number of urologists based in Dunedin Hospital to four.
By the next year, the situation seemed to have turned around — the assessment team which evaluated the service for accreditation commented that Dunedin urology had gone from being the worst underperforming service in the country to "possibly the best".
In 2021, the urology service clinical director cited this description while detailing improvements, telling the board that when once patients routinely waited for more than a year for "urgent" surgery, now almost all procedures were done within 28 days.
It was a good start, although there was still more to do, the director said at the time.
HNZ did not respond to questions asked by the Otago Daily Times.
