Central Lakes Locality Network (CLLN) chairwoman Helen Telford said network members would meet the Southern District Health Board (SDHB) and stakeholders with maternity care front and centre.
Ms Telford said maternity had always been a focus of the network and the key issues it would table at the meeting would be the discrepancy between primary care — birthing units — and access to secondary care — obstetric hospitals in pregnancy-related emergencies.
The region had a high birth-age population yet remained a long way from both base maternity hospitals — Southland Hospital in Invercargill and Queen Mary Hospital, in Dunedin.
"That’s such a challenge, it’s a real concern to us and we want clarity around what’s going to happen.
"Possibly I am unfairly comparing it to when I worked in New South Wales [Australia] where birthing units where located just the hallway from where surgeons worked."
Part of the network’s role was to work with all stakeholders to find feasible solutions, she said.
"We’ll be very much looking at a long-term picture around not having a base hospital and shortages of staff."
Established in 2019, the CLLN is an advisory group created to support local health issues and make recommendations to the Southern Alliance Leadership Team.
Members include patients and healthcare consumers, general practitioners and rural hospital clinicians, a general practice nurse, and a health promotion adviser.
The advisory network works closely with SDHB and WellSouth Primary Health Network, to ensure health services and facilities match the current and future healthcare needs of patients and consumers in Queenstown, Wanaka and the Central Otago area.
Waitaki MP Jacqui Dean strongly condemned the situation that had led to midwives and their clients being turned away from Southland and Queen Mary hospitals in emergencies.
"The fact that we are once again discussing the failings of southern maternity services is something I find incredibly frustrating and frankly unacceptable," Mrs Dean said.
Women should be able to feel safe during pregnancy and delivery, and midwives should know they had the facilities and backup they needed to do their job, Mrs Dean said.
"We are all waiting with baited breath for the Southern District Health Board to establish fit-for-purpose primary birthing facilities for women in the Wanaka and Central Otago area."
She would not be happy until suitable facilities were open and equipped to meet the needs of local families, she said.
"The Southern District Health Board has let down local women and their families for too long."
