Thursday 24 June 2010

The Editor

Greymouth Star

Dear Editor

Once again Jim Anderson (Star, 21 June) puts forward a commonsense view of health matters, this time regarding the shortcomings of West Coast PHO administration.  

A major issue which the public need to be aware of is that the Auckland-based consultancy company PHOcus whose role is supposedly an advisory one are clearly in conflict of interest - and in a double-dipping situation - given that their owners, Anthony Cooke and Jocelyn Tracey, are joint acting CEOs of the Coast PHO. With Coast DHB policy virtually controlled from Christchurch and PHO policy dictated by an Auckland consultancy the Coast public and health professionals are clearly shut out of any meaningful consultation.   

On the advice of PHOcus the Coast PHO set up a G.P. practice in competition with already existing, under-resourced G.P. practices in Greymouth leading to the increasing G.P. crisis. Now PHOcus are touting for the Coast the widely discredited "one-stop-health-shop" concept. How can this succeed when clinical staff are largely shut out of the consultation process and can have no confidence in seriously flawed PHO business management?

It should also be noted that the PHO's business plan relies on a "Nurse Lead Model of Care" whereby practice nurses - NOT the higher qualified nurse practitioners - will largely replace doctors thereby putting nurses and doctors in an extremely risky legal situation.

The health authorities and government must come clean with the West Coast public before allowing an Auckland-based consultancy business to foist their agenda on an unsuspecting public.

David Tranter

Health spokesman

N.Z. Democrats for Social Credit