The hospital specialist workforce crisis is behind the retrenchment of specialist maternity services in Whanganui," said Mr Ian Powell, Executive Director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, today.

"Since 2006, when salaries for specialists in Australian public hospitals were significantly increased in response to severe shortages and increased danger to patients, New Zealand public hospitals have suffered from a specialist workforce crisis. This crisis is greater in some parts of the health system than others, such as maternity services in smaller public hospitals."

"There was a time when Whanganui could employ the obstetricians and gynaecologists they needed but the workforce crisis has changed all this. Instead they have had to rely on the less reliable and more expensive system of locum (temporary) specialists."

"What the MidCentral and Whanganui DHBs are proposing is more likely to be safer for patients than the current arrangement. But it should not be used to fudge the fact that it is the result of a hospital specialist workforce crisis that our health bosses are twiddling their thumbs over and in a state of crisis denial."

"Our efforts to address this crisis collaboratively with health bosses came to grief last year when they did a U-turn and went into denial mode. The chickens of crisis deniers continue to come home to roost" concluded Mr Powell.