Women flown out of region to give birth due to hiring challenges, not funding, MP says

A shortage of senior doctors that caused expectant mothers to be flown out of Marlborough to give birth was not due to funding problems, but the struggle to attract doctors to the region, an incumbent MP says.

National's Kaikōura candidate Stuart Smith had fielded a question about access to healthcare when the issue was raised at a meet-the-candidates meeting in Blenheim on Monday.

Senior emergency department doctors from Blenheim's Wairau Hospital had told 1News on Sunday that the department was critically understaffed, with only eight doctors to fill a roster meant for 11.4 full-time doctors.

On Monday, 1News reported that four expectant mothers had to be transferred from Wairau Hospital to Nelson Hospital in late August, two via helicopter and two via ambulance, after there were no senior obstetrics doctors available.

Senior doctors told 1News they had been promised more staff for five years, only to be told there was no funding available. Staff shortages were a risk to patient safety, they said.

At the meeting at Lansdowne Hub, hosted by Marlborough Chamber of Commerce and Marlborough Express, Smith told the audience he thought the news item had been "a bit misleading".

"Yes, it cost a lot of money to have a helicopter on the ground ... [but] none of them were in the process of giving birth [when they were transferred], but for safety's sake they were shifted, and that's the right thing to do."

Smith said he had spoken to Health Minister Simeon Brown about the matter.

Staffing issues at Wairau Hospital were not due to financial constraints, Smith said. Positions had been advertised, but hadn't been filled because of how difficult it was to attract doctors to the regions.

Smith had posted on Facebook about the issue hours earlier, saying there was no hiring freeze at Wairau Hospital, and Health NZ was "actively recruiting to fill vacancies".

"It is well known there is a global shortage for specialist roles such as obstetrics and Blenheim is unfortunately not immune to this issue," his post said.

While the four maternity transfers were "clearly not ideal", it was important that the hospital had a contingency plan in place to keep patients safe, he said.

He added that the Government had founded a third medical school and a programme to help medical students complete their training in the regions.

Health NZ Nelson-Marlborough interim chief medical officer Dr Derek Sherwood said sending patients to Nelson was an interim measure to fill temporary gaps that had only occurred for "several specific periods of time during a one-week period".

"Wairau Maternity Service remained open throughout this period and continued to provide midwifery-led care, and obstetrics and gynaecology specialist care, remotely from Nelson," Sherwood said.

The cost of having a helicopter on standby was commercially sensitive but was considered "an important part of our contingency planning", he said.

"We apologise for any inconvenience and appreciate the support from families during this time."

Sherwood praised their "remarkable professionalism" of staff during a winter that put hospitals under "significant pressure".

NZ First candidate Jamie Arbuckle had brought up the 1News story when asked about improving healthcare access for Marlburians.

Arbuckle said that the government "obviously have to ensure we have our nurses and doctors in those roles".

"Making sure that our services remain here, that the hospitals are well funded, whoever the MP is must be advocating for those two things."

We need data centres, but they need regulation

Healthcare was one of several topics covered during Tuesday's event, along with the cost of living, energy generation, and tourism infrastructure.

During a quickfire round, the audience learned that ACT candidate Tom Spooner avoided cleaning his car at all costs, Smith's favourite snack was peanuts, and Labour candidate Matt Flight had about 1100 unread emails in his inbox, some of which were from his "Nigerian princess boyfriend".

Candidates largely agreed that New Zealand would need data centres for AI, and also agreed the sector required urgent regulation.

Arbuckle said that without hosting data centres, New Zealanders' data would be stored overseas, where Kiwis had no control over it.

"It's not practical to say that we don't need these things. We will use AI... we've got to be in control of that information."

Flight said building data centres would create jobs, noting that Australia's data centre builds were drawing Kiwi tradies across the Tasman.

Questions from the floor prompted one about immigration controls.

Spooner said that while he didn't want the "best place in the world" to be overrun by people who "really don't appreciate it for what it is", he didn't agree with having a closed border.

"I don't think things are too far out of whack at the moment."

Independent candidate Ted Howard said that going back 1200 years, "everyone's an immigrant".

Flight said that there were major job shortages in industries that "a lot of Kiwis don't have the patience to do".

The truck driving workforce was rapidly ageing with few young people wanting to "jump in and drive a truck", he said.

"These people coming to our country, they add to our class. They're not a hindrance, they're part of our society."