Skyrocketing wages for locum doctors of up to $375 per hour have left South Island rural hospitals scrambling for specialist cover, managers are warning. In an open letter, representatives of clinical directors and administrative staff "on behalf of South Island rural hospitals" expressed their "growing concern regarding the increasing difficulty of recruiting locum doctors at our facilities". "A significant contributing factor to this challenge is the apparent inconsistency in adherence to the nationally recognised locum hourly rate of $260. "We have observed several hospitals in the North Island — namely Taupō, Taumaranui, Thames and Tokoroa — are offering substantially higher rates, $375 per hour." Gore Health chief executive Karl Metzler said he did not know who was the source of the letter, but he agreed it was an issue that needed to be addressed.…