Decision Making Process For New Wellington Regional Public Hospital Finalised

The Minister of Health today announced the process for making the decision on the new Wellington Regional Public Hospital.

"Within a month we will release a discussion document containing the Ministry of Health's technical advice on the best health solution for the area the new hospital will serve.

"Interested parties from throughout the region served by the new hospital will then have six weeks to make submissions to the Ministry of Health.

"Once submissions are in they will be fully and carefully analysed before a final decision on the size, shape, services provided and location is announced.

"The detailed plans for the hospital will be drawn up to the specifications set out in the final document that I would expect to see released by August," Mr Creech said.

The consultation process will be served by a Technical Advisory Group. The membership will be announced when the discussion document is released.

"The advisory group will oversee the consultation process. Those appointed will have the capacity to explain the technical issues and get feedback. The group will consider bed number modelling and clinical trends.

"This process is designed to make certain we make the best decisions for the provision of secondary and tertiary health care for the future."

The new hospital will provide:

tertiary hospital services for an area that runs from the centre of the North Island -Taranaki across to Hawkes Bay - and

includes Marlborough and Nelson from the top of the South Island

secondary services for the traditional Wellington City area served by the current Wellington Hospital.

"This is a once-in-a-generation decision. It will serve this extended area for at least the next generation. We need to make sure we get it right," Mr Creech said.

"The discussion document addresses the primary issue of what is needed to give the people served by the new hospital the best health services possible for the future. So far the major issue of local discussion has been the location. Before we debate that we need to decide what service we require to best serve us into the future.

"It will however also address the location issue.

"The hospital should be located where we can give the best health solution for the Wellington area.

"While there has been considerable political interest in the location of a new hospital, my current technical health advice is that as part of and surrounding the current Newtown site there are already very significant infrastructural and other support reasons for locating the hospital there. It will need a strong justification - clinical, financial or other - to make any decision to construct the new hospital on another site. There will be opportunities for submissions on this point.

"The consultation process is designed to give the Government the widest possible advice base for the decision making process - including advice from health professionals and other experts - so that the go ahead is given to a hospital that gives people the best health solution possible.

"This process has been chosen because it will see a timely and relevant decision made that will best meet the health needs of Wellington," Mr Creech said.