The physio pool is one of Otago’s best-kept secrets.
It was built in 1946 as a facility for returning soldiers on land we believe was consented to by Ngāi Tahu for the hospital board’s plan to build a hydrotherapy pool.
Dunedin quickly received international acclaim for this innovative and effective holistic physiotherapy treatment.
Until the pool’s closure due to plant failure in 2021, over 40,000 patient and public visits occurred annually. It is now sadly at risk of permanent closure in favour of a new pool elsewhere.
As Mosgiel knows, new pools are costly and take 20 years.
Established in 1983, a volunteer-run trust took over the management and cost of running the pool from Dunedin Hospital.
This Otago Therapeutic Pool Trust (OTPT) has a mission statement to "maintain and operate the Otago physiotherapy pool as a charitable activity for the benefit of the Otago community."
We feel the trust should maintain commitment to this mission statement and redevelop the existing physio pool to allow patient use again within a more reasonable timeframe than any new build.
This is also the best option environmentally.
The trust needs to act transparently, encouraging ongoing, open and democratic input from the public on the future of the physio pool. Its decisions have significant long-term implications for community wellbeing. The poorly circulated feasibility study survey didn’t enable any comparison of cost or timeframes between options.
The pool building is sound, but with redevelopment a new independent heating system, insulation, strengthening and updated change facilities would be gained.
These improvements could be done in stages as fundraising allows. Fundraising could begin once Health NZ confirms a lease agreement with the trust, enabling use until an aquatic strategy for the city is decided.
The major benefit of improving the physio pool for Health NZ and its community would be that the trust (not Health NZ) would continue to cover the operating and capital expenses of the pool — they have 40 years’ experience in managing this facility.
The physio pool provides an invaluable resource for patient recovery, enabling a wide variety of patients to work in the pool at one time whilst regaining function, confidence and independence.
Close proximity to the current and new hospital physio departments optimise staff, student and patient time. Few staff are required to deliver quality hydrotherapy programmes.
Free hospital patient sessions would again improve participation by removing cost and waiting list barriers, in particular for mana whenua, whose healing techniques incorporate hydrotherapy. Waiting lists for many hospital departments would reduce by facilitating patient access again to this pool.
Rehabilitation towards independence is a key focus for Health NZ and this facility enables patients to rehabilitate independently. A redeveloped physio pool could once again become the facility for world-leading, innovative rehabilitation techniques for Health NZ patients.
The current physio pool is fit for purpose. It is very central, giving easy, flat access for all disabled users. Its significantly warmer 35°C heat, buoyancy and good depth facilitate significant exercise progressions.
Heat reduces pain for patients, enabling faster, more comfortable progress before and after surgery or injury. Pool users prefer therapy within a supervised, private and purpose-built rehabilitation facility where patients describe feeling safe and less self-conscious, appreciating adequate space to exercise effectively.
Many socialisation benefits occur when working alongside others in this specifically rehab-focused environment. Patients benefit from ongoing relationships and the support of fellow patients whilst exercising.
This inclusive community facility catered for Special Olympics, Learn to Swim schools, Muslim women, aquajogging, Vera Hayward Centre clients, rheumatology and cardio-respiratory groups.
The University of Otago School of Physiotherapy is also close by. Students gained hands-on experience from clinical hydrotherapy experts whilst working with various patient groups, building treatment skills, and helping improve patients’ confidence and function.
Since 2010, Hackney Council in London has provided free swimming for its over-60-year-olds. If Dunedin City Council provided similar, it could help shift rehabilitation focus to wellness and injury prevention — something ACC, Health NZ and DCC all aspire to do.
Currently aquatic facilities are stretched — redeveloping this pool would more rapidly provide another facility for Dunedin. DCC aquatic staff and engineers could optimise future operation of the physio pool more cost-effectively.
Building a new pool is a daunting challenge for the DCC in difficult economic times. We need this community pool until any new pool is built.
John Bezett, when on the council, led the hugely successful St Clair Hot Salt Water Pool redevelopment and is very keen to do similar here, if only the trust facilitates this. This iconic, architecturally and historically significant facility should be preserved.
We saw patients on a daily basis in need of this much-loved facility and know how much it is missed by staff. We cannot stand by and watch its quiet closure in similar fashion to the Fortune Theatre.
The community wants and urgently needs its return.
• Barb and Geoff Anderson have been Dunedin physiotherapists for more than 35 years. Barb Anderson is a former trust member of OTPT.
