Hospital refurb and airport hugs

Photo: Stephen Jaquiery

Today's Letters to the Editor from readers cover topics including refurbishing the hospital block, hugs at the airport and where is HTP evidence, Minister?

Why hospital ward block cannot be refurbished

Several correspondents have asserted that the current ward block at Dunedin Hospital is suitable for re-lifing [sic] and that this is a sensible alternative to the costly new build now under threat (Letters, 1.10.24 and 7.10.24).

That was the initial, if uninformed, view of the then SDHB and the Southern Partnership Group, both of which I was a member of. There were many reasons that our minds were changed but here are some of them.

In a major earthquake the building would remain standing but the plant would be wrecked as it did not meet IL4 standards.

The ceilings are too low for modern medical practice. The external concrete fabric has concrete cancer.

The column placement (unchangeable) did not allow for creation of modern, efficient, ward configurations.

Fixing the services would require the emptying of two floors at a time and where do you decant almost 25% of hospital beds to while you do this?

The relief option would take 4-5 years longer than the new build.

As Ray McLeod says, some inconvenience might be acceptable if the cost difference was similarly strong. But it wasn’t. Two independent assessments showed that the costs of refurb of the ward block for outpatient and admin purposes plus a new build of inpatient and surgical services was only 6% cheaper than a complete new build - and that was just the upfront capital.

When you looked at the lifetime costs (efficiency gains and losses, R&M, etc), the new build was a substantially cheaper option, took less time, and provided a more efficient outcome.

And while I am at it, others have said the project would have been far more affordable if done at Wakari. The only basis for that assertion is that the land was already owned and so that would have been a cost saving.

Well, that is true. What is also true, and why it was rejected, is that, to fit it on, most or all of the mental health facilities would have had to be bulldozed. Possibly not a bad thing given their state, but the cost of reinstatement of those somewhere else would have made the option a great deal more expensive, and less integrated with the city and the medical, nursing, physio, dentistry and other health training facilities that rely on it.

Richard Thomson
Dunedin

In response to Ray McLeod (ODT, 7.10.24), the decision to not re-life [sic] the existing ward block was taken back in July 2017 when Bill English was prime minister. It followed many months of exhaustive analyses undertaken by engineers, economists, and architects. All the resultant reports have been publicly available for many years. I commend these reports to Ray McLeod and to any others who think that somehow that was a mistake. In these troubled times, well-informed opinion matters.

Pete Hodgson
Dunedin

Cost overruns on hospital rebuilds could be paid for by government cutting back on the massive expenditures it intends to spend on constructing ‘‘Roads of National Significance’’ most of which will be in the North Island.

Such so-called roads will only save at most a few minutes of vehicle travel time.

Increased hospital and other health operating costs could be met from the introduction of capital gains taxes.

We would then have a first-class health system comparable with those in European countries, replacing our current third class system. Note that we are one of the few countries in the OECD that doesn’t have such a tax.

Gary Riggs
Christchurch

Just exactly how do you define a hug again?

I was incredulous to read (ODT, 3.10.24) that somebody at Dunedin Airport has set a time limit of three minutes on hugging a departing passenger.

The mind boggles as to how this new rule will be enforced. Will the present parking attendants be issued with stopwatches to ensure hugs last no longer than three minutes?

If they do this, they will surely have to carefully watch everybody unloading a passenger to establish if a hug is occurring and when it commenced (as well as ended).

Anyway, what would define a hug?

One can also envisage an entry in the court news section of the ODT entitled ‘‘Fines for extended airport hug offences’’ should anybody dispute the matter.

Surely Dunedin Airport and its owner (Dunedin City Council) have more important issues to deal with.

Barrie M. Peake
Belleknowes

I totally agree with the anonymous person’s comments (ODT, 10.10.24).

Dunedin Airport is one of Otago’s treasures because it is convenient, welcoming, as well as being very scenic.

Always an easy place to drop people off so why oh why did planter boxes need to be placed in a perfectly good ‘‘drop-off’’ lane?

Adding some of the previous drop-off areas would be a great addition but what is the point of taking away a perfectly usable space?

Please reconsider and what is all the fuss about this NOT being a pick-up zone.

Common sense means less requirement for reinforcements and keeps the respect of fellow travellers.

J. Dunbar
Dunedin

Costello should stump up her HTP evidence

The World Health Organisation’s information sheet on heated tobacco products states that they ‘‘do not help smokers to end tobacco use’’.

Since the Associate Health Minister Casey Costello believes that top international experts on healthcare have got this wrong, it’s surely important that she makes her contradictory evidence available to the WHO.

Keith Probert
Belleknowes

Getting people to town

Would someone please explain why we can’t provide trains to ferry cruise ship passengers to and from Dunedin.

This would ensure less potential congestion on and damage to the roads and avoid queues at the designated bus stops.

The bonus would be a short walk through the unique historic town of Port Chalmers to the train and a scenic trip along the harbour’s edge, with exposure to our beautiful railway station to boot.

Judy Layland
North East Valley