Southland District Mayor Gary Tong has called on the Southern District Health Board (DHB) to admit it got it wrong when it decided to close the Lumsden birthing unit, and says it's not too late to make it right.

Mr Tong has written to the DHB's chief executive Chris Fleming and Executive Director Strategy, Primary and Community Lisa Gestro saying they have failed to deliver on their promise to develop a stronger system of care for primary maternity services across the Southland district, and calls for the facilities "that have worked so incredibly well for the past 50 years or more" to be instated.

Since the downgrading of the Lumsden unit, four babies have been born before making it to a primary birthing facility. Two births were inside the building now known as the Lumsden Maternity and Child Hub, but there has been extensive criticism of the readiness of the facility. Reports have included lack of appropriate equipment and drugs and allegations of substandard cleanliness.

In his letter, Mr Tong says there must be a full investigation into each of the four births "and I am following that up through another avenue of enquiry".

In the meantime he says communities are under stress and rural volunteers and medical professionals are working "far outside of their normal resilience".

"Peoples’ lives are involved here. Either the mother or the baby/babies are under stress from the moment they leave home. The trip to an intended birthing unit soon becomes a stop off somewhere along the way at any hour of the night. The midwife or the doctor needs to get on the road and attend wherever and then the volunteers called in to assist via St John. Far too many moving parts."

"I am no health professional, however I did have 25 years as a front line policeman in small towns and I know all about time over distance (plus the weather) and the accidents that can occur when it comes down to the golden hour, as it was then. On occasions the Coroner needed to be advised, enough said…"

Mr Tong told Advocate Southland and The Southland App today "enough's enough".

"They've been given sufficient time to get this going. Their promise to me was they would not close Lumsden until such time as the hub was up and running."

The Ministry of Health had a responsibility to midwives and the Southern DHB a responsibility for the facilities. It was time they got together and assured the public the support was there to prevent any traumatic births, or worse, he said.

As far back as last year Mr Tong said he had expressed concern that the proposals were not "future-proofing" by taking into account the proximity of the Lumsden Maternity Hospital to a rapidly-growing population at Kingston and "overflowing" Queenstown. 

And while the changes initially aimed to carve around $300,000 off the cost of southern maternity services "they've probably spent twice that over this whole bloody fiasco", Mr Tong said.

In his letter, Mr Tong's says it's time for him, as mayor, to voice his "absolute disappointment in where this government funded proposal now sits".

He concludes with a plea for all involved to admit the proposal is not working and make it right.