Lawrence Yule says Hawke's Bay residents are not getting access to timely surgery. Photo / File
National Tukituki MP Lawrence Yule has called for an independent review into Hawke's Bay district health board's financial performance.
But the DHB says its massive deficit is not entirely unexpected and his political opponent saysthere's no point "attacking" those working there.
Last week the DHB reported its set deficit of $12.9 million had blown out to $43m, with just $9.7m of that caused by the need to prepare for and treat Covid-19.
Yule said the DHB's financial performance was "falling off a cliff". He said a deficit like this was causing surgeries to be delayed and should not be immediately accepted by the Government.
"A financial 'letter of comfort' fixes the balance sheet but will not fix people's hips.
"The numbers tell a very concerning story with an increase of constituents contacting my office seeking support for elective surgery," he said.
"I had someone come to my office this morning, needing a hip replacement, who wasn't even on the waiting list for elective surgery.
"Surgeons have also advised me that Hawke's Bay residents are not getting access to timely surgery compared with regions, which is an unacceptable situation."
July's DHB board report stated the Ministry of Health required the DHB to refund $4.2m of funding for elective operations because they were not performed before June 30, he said.
"Board papers show a massive $32m deficit even after adjusting for Covid-19 costs and holiday pay accrual," Yule said.
"Something has gone wrong with the DHB's funding, delivery or cost control.
"Our doctors, nurses and health care providers work extremely hard yet, it is the systemic issues emerging impacting the people of Hawke's Bay.
"The new CEO and board need to conduct a review into why the numbers have deteriorated significantly.
"The Auditor General's report last year predicted a surplus in 2020/2021 - even with Covid-19 we need clarity as to why things have gone so wrong under this Government."
Yule said the Government needed a clear and credible plan to stop DHBs from going into liquidation.
Hawke's Bay DHB did not comment on Yule's call for an independent review, but offered to provide context for the financial result.
The DHB's executive director of financial services Carriann Hall said understanding the underlying issues and supporting management to develop solutions had been a focus for the DHB's new board, which took office in December.
"A lot of work is happening to improve the way we deliver our services, however sustainable solutions will take time to deliver," Hall said.
"The Ministry of Health has been closely monitoring the DHB's performance."
A DHB spokeswoman added that the operating result of a $32.3m deficit was not unexpected.
"The DHB has been forecasting publicly that its deficit would be substantially greater than the planned deficit of $12.9m since January, where it signalled at least a $24m deficit," she said.
"The DHB has had a number of issues that affected its planned expenditure including continued and sustained pressure on hospital level care that did not let up over the summer months, as it had in previous years.
"Growth in both patient volumes and complexity of the services required to care for older people were also significant contributors."
The DHB was also quick off the mark to take-up national investments in new drugs, which meant it had a higher proportion of pharmaceutical costs than it had planned, she said.
"The demands of patients who presented with acute and life-threatening injuries and medical conditions meant less elective (planned care) operations were able to be delivered," the spokeswoman said.
"This saw $4m less income than expected, for electives, from the Ministry of Health."
Board member and Labour Tukituki candidate Anna Lorck welcomed Yule's call for an independent review into HBDHB's financial performance.
But she said far more would be achieved for health in Hawke's Bay by focusing on what could be done now, rather than looking backwards.
"If he [Yule] thinks the answers to supporting our hospital and our hard working and dedicated team is in scrutinising our performance, then go for it," Lorck said.
"What actually has to happen right now is for MOH to urgently review its decision to claw back $4.2m of our Hawke's Bay elective surgery budget, this is how we will get more people in Hawke's Bay their surgeries for hips and knees and faster cancer treatment."
Lorck said she was using her experience as a regional leader to look at fixing the problems, not "attacking" the DHB team.
"It is thanks to the hard work of the HBDHB team, we now have $42m to start the greatest capital expenditure at our hospital in over a decade, including building a new theatre to do more operations."