A health advisory group is to be established as part of the Southern Primary Health Organisation to improve links between community and hospital health care, funding and finance general manager Robert Mackway-Jones told this week's community and public health advisory meeting in Invercargill.
Mr Mackway-Jones said the group was needed to set up "clinical pathways" between community and hospital care.
The DHB and PHO are working on ways to move more health care procedures such as minor surgery into the community. The advisory group was still in its planning stage and its terms of reference had not been set.
Committee chairman Dr Malcolm Macpherson said the group would need to focus on ways to "reconnect" the PHO with the community, suggesting the super PHO was already too focused on GP practices.
Mr Mackway-Jones said the PHO already had a community advisory group.
Southern PHO formed last October from nine Otago and Southland PHOs.
It has been criticised for being too focused on providing health care procedures, rather than community health promotion.
