In 2023, while campaigning to become the government, the leader of the National Party gave a promise to build the new Dunedin hospital as designed.
It did not take long for this promise to be broken on all sorts of excuses.
Not enough money is the common catch-cry, but somehow there appears to be money to build a university in Waikato for the training of medical students.
Surely it is time to take a step back and look at priorities in a reasonable and constructive way. People in the southern region are entitled to have the medical services which the rest of New Zealand receive.
While appreciating population size has an impact on the requirement for hospitals, it should also be noted that everyone who needs medical attention should have easy access to these services.
Dunedin Hospital staff should be extremely proud of the way in which they have been able to service southern people using the inferior buildings and equipment which they have been forced to work with.
One only needs to see the progress of the outpatients building to see what an asset it will be for all from Oamaru to Bluff. To provide the services to the people who need treatment which does not require a stay in hospital, the facilities this will provide are well overdue.
It is inconceivable to expect those who require treatment which necessitates a stay in hospital not to have the same advantage as those who do not require an overnight stay.
The real heroes of the disgraceful state of the Dunedin Hospital are the staff. The situations they must work in on a daily basis and still produce the quality of care and treatment they do is worse than any Third World country.
It behoves this government to keep its promise and give these skilled workers an environment which allows them to work safely and recognises their talent and dedication to all their services.
It has always been my belief there are two areas which cannot and should not be required to return a monetary profit: health and education.
If we do not educate our children to allow them to reach their full potential, then we do them a great injustice. If we do not provide facilities for people to obtain all medical treatment or services to maintain their health, then they are again being disadvantaged by outdated systems and financial restrictions.
It does not take a genius to recognise that a well-educated and healthy population is the greatest asset this country can have.
May 2025 bring some wisdom to those who make the rules that without a hospital built to the original specifications then those who reside in the southern region are being deprived of the ability to give of their best.
- Jo Millar is president of Grey Power Otago.
