Waitaki District Health Services has given further assurance that services at Oamaru Hospital will not be cut, at the first of a series of community meetings called by the company that owns and operates the hospital yesterday.
The meetings, all being held at the Oamaru Opera House, were called in response to a public outcry prompted by its proposed restructuring of the hospital.
Last month, the Otago Daily Times obtained a copy of a confidential ''proposal of change'' document distributed to staff that included a proposed staffing restructuring and the reconfiguration of the hospital's layout.
At the meeting, attended by about 45 people, Waitaki District Health Services chief executive Ruth Kibble and clinical director Dr Pragati Gautama explained the proposed changes to the physical layout of the hospital and discussed the ''proposal for change'', and the consultation process for staff, before opening the floor to questions.
The changes to the layout of the hospital aimed to bring patients with the highest health needs close together to improve efficiency and improve clinical safety.
That involved the hospital's emergency department, high dependency unit and inpatient ward being in close proximity to each other.
The nearby Red Cross building owned by the company was being considered for staff accommodation, to house doctors on night shifts and nurses who lived long distances from the hospital, if needed.
On the contentious issue of staffing, Mrs Kibble said no final decision had been made.
''We need to get our staffing right with this, in terms of staffing levels and staffing mix. There is no decision at this particular time, but we need to review how we work to support our clinical service quality and give us a platform for our long-term sustainability.''
The company aimed to become financially sustainable after years of deficits, which would them allow it to expand its services, she said.
Services would not be cut, she said.
Questions raised at the meeting included whether there would be cuts to services, how the layout changes would be funded, why staff were concerned about the changes, how extra revenue could be generated and if beds numbers would be cut.
