“I don’t like getting nasty but I will if he doesn’t keep his word,” said Baker at a public meeting of Porirua, Tawa and Kāpiti Coast residents, called to rally against indications that Te Whatu Ora might be planning to close the service.
“We need to keep our hospital open, all parts of it,” Baker said.
‘All hell is going to break loose if he doesn’t keep his word’
Mana MP Barbara Edmonds, who called the meeting, said the hospital services a diverse population of almost 100,000, including high numbers of elderly people, youth, children, Pacific peoples and Māori already dealing with significant health inequities.
“Many of the 37,290 people who presented at the hospital last year were children – Māori and Pacific children who had serious lung and respiratory problems.
‘We don’t just need this hospital because we want a hospital, our children need it to breath’
“These kids need to see real doctors and real nurses face to face, not a tv screen with someone talking on it,” Edmonds said.
While Wellington Hospital was only a 30-minute drive away from Kenepuru, Edmonds said most of the people using the service did not have cars, could not afford parking and the shuttle services did not run after 6pm.
“Thirty minutes is too long to ask a child who can’t breath, to hang on.”
Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall told the meeting that under this Government, communities in remote areas were having their after-hours accident and emergency services chopped.
“They’ve done it at Westport and Dargaville. And it looks like remote areas aren’t the only places on their chopping block.
“But this is not a remote area, this is an urban city with so many vulnerable populations. It has the highest elderly and youth populations in the region and the second highest Pacific population in the country.
‘Keep an eye on them. I tell you now, they will cut it’
Sarah Dalton, the executive director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, told the meeting that her organisation of more than 6000 doctors not only wants the service to remain, but to become a “fully fledged emergency service.”
“Kenepuru services areas that have a population of about 100,000 people. That’s huge. Nothing at this hospital should be getting cut, the opposite should be happening which is more investment in it.”
“Respiratory issues do not respect a nine-to-five weekday. Telehealth is not fine in this place.”
Heniaka August, of the Ngāti Toa Māori Wardens, was concerned about the children too.
“We have a lot of sick tamariki here and that after-hours service is vital for them. Sometimes I’ve had to drive whānau to Kenepuru, outside of my mahi time, because they have no car, no petrol. But I can’t always be there for them.
“The doctors and nurses at Kenepuru are our whānau. We need more of them and this Government needs to show our tamariki some mercy. I would use the word ‘aroha’ but I don’t think they know what that means.”
Retired fireman Chris Barrett said he was concerned what would happen if a natural disaster striked Porirua and surrounding areas.
“We just had an earthquake and while it was small, it has us all thinking about where will our injured go when the big one comes. Wellington Hospital will be packed. This Government needs to back off on cutting anything at Kenepuru.”
Te Whatu Ora chief executive Margie Apa spoke very briefly at the end of the meeting, informing the crowd that they would not be closing Kenepuru’s after-hours accident and medical service.
However, all other speakers and many residents remained unconvinced.