Residents of all ages raised their health-care issues in 20 separate meetings in the latest four-hour drop-in forum organised by the National Health Board (NHB) panel, in the Queenstown Lakes District Council meeting room, on Friday.
Panel chairman Dr Peter Foley, of Napier, said he and panellist consumer advocate David Russell were told Queenstown should have an emergency department for stabilising patients before they were transferred.
Dr Foley said people had asked for more residential care for the elderly at a hospital level, and more community support for managing the elderly.
People wanted information on patients being transferred forwarded more efficiently, so the patients could be fast-tracked upon arrival and not have to go "through the whole assessment process again".
Residents wanted more open, more immediate access to information on their health-care options and how different funding worked, particularly on how medical care differed to accident care, Dr Foley said.
Opinions differed regarding the location of the Lakes District Hospital, he said.
"We've heard about the need for dementia care beds, we've heard concerns about the lack of rehabilitation services in the area for patients transferred back," Dr Foley said.
"We've heard about the need for more outpatient clinics ... in Queenstown and we've heard how the Dunstan Hospital works well for that community." The panel had been aware of all the issues, but the feedback was valuable, he said.
The panel updated the Southern DHB in Dunedin on Thursday, and will present its recommendation to the board on Friday, August 5.
The third and final public drop-in forum will be held in the council meeting room on Friday, July 22, from 12.30pm to 2.30pm. The theme will be general practice and community health service.
Dr Foley said an invitation-only clinical forum between health providers and the panel, to discuss "patient pathway scenarios", would be held on Friday, July 15.
A second community meeting will be held on Thursday, July 28, in a venue to be announced.
