By Susan Sandys  March 23 2010

Government has dismissed calls by an Ashburton general practitioner for a campaign to reinstate emergency caesarean services in the town.

Chris Ryan, who is also the district's elected representative on the Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB), last week urged Mid Canterbury women, and groups from Plunket to Women's Institutes, to "make it political" and take up the cause.

But Minister of Health Tony Ryall said yesterday the issue of the hospital losing the services was a "local matter."

 "Concerned locals should raise it with a district health board member," Mr Ryall said.

Rangitata MP Jo Goodhew agreed, and was a "little perplexed" as to why Dr Ryan was calling for lobbying of Government.

 "Because Dr Ryan knows as well as many people within the health service that ceasareans being carried out by general surgeons is unusual and not something that happens very much at all these days."

The hospital faces losing the services as the two general surgeons who are able to carry out the procedure approach retirement.

Already it offers the service only unofficially, as whether it is available or not on any given day depends on whether the surgeons are about at the time.

 "The important thing for me is that when a mother and baby are in a situation of emergency that they are cared for by people with the right level of skill," Mrs Goodhew said.

She believed the solution was more so in the hands of the DHB as it could obtain obstetric services in Ashburton if demand required it.

 "Dr Ryan should look to his own DHB, he's on it after all," she said.

It was sad general surgeons could no longer be recruited with the wide range of skills they used to have, and it was difficult to accomplish local cover of such a service unless there was enough demand.

Mrs Goodhew planned to visit Ashburton Hospital with Mr Ryall when he was in the town late May or early June on his way to opening a rest home at Temuka.

 This would be a good opportunity for the two to discuss the matter with hospital management.