'Killer hospital' furore an over reaction - health boss

A leading health spokesman is calling for calm over the outrage of the deaths and accidents at Wellington Hospital.

Counties Manukau DHB chairman Patrick Snedden said the controversy surrounding Wellington Hospital was a "major over reaction".

Mr Snedden's plea came after numerous media reports and ACT MP Heather Roy's "killer hospital" comments in Parliament.

"We cannot place our medical workforce under such a shadow... that people feel frightened about going to use our health system, that is a major over reaction," Mr Snedden told Radio New Zealand.

He said it was "unfortunate" the Capital and Coast District Health Board chose not to be upfront about the events in the first instance.

"You can see the kind of reaction that they possibly feared has somewhat been generated and I think it is only giving one side and a very partial side to this story".

Mr Snedden is also chairman of the Quality Improvement Committee and business adviser to Health Care Aotearoa Inc, with 27 years' experience as a senior executive.

- NZPA

* An earlier version of this story incorrectly said Green MP Sue Kedgley made the "killer hospital" comment.