Public hospitals face deep cuts

By MARTIN JOHNSTON, health reporter

Millions of dollars must be cut from the bill for bandages, blood and drugs at central Auckland's public hospitals.

Food and artificial hip joints also come under the management decree to cut $3.78 million from the budget for "direct treatment costs".

Auckland District Health Board chief executive Graeme Edmond ordered the 3 per cent cut. He is trying to comply with the Government's demand to slice $25 million off his board's $86 million deficit.

This is on top of $14 million the board is saving this year from a job-cutting programme. Since November, 70 management positions, some with a clinical component, have been scrapped and more are going at lower levels.



The country's 21 district health boards have a combined projected deficit of $200 million by next July, but the Government has rejected that figure.

It said in the Budget that it wanted to reduce the figure to $80 million by "cost-containment".

In its election policy, Labour says the deficits are currently $170 million and that there will be $114 million of deficit and capital-project support this year.

Mr Edmond said he had instructed that trimming the food and medical-supplies budget was "not to impact inappropriately" on patient care.

He expected the money could be saved by measures such as reducing wastage, holding less stock and using different suppliers.

But Auckland Women's Health Council co-ordinator Lynda Williams doubted these cuts could be achieved.

"If there are these savings to be made and they haven't been made before now, the people responsible in the DHBs should be sacked because they shouldn't have let the boards get into this amount of deficit."



Mr Edmond said he had identified $15 million of the $25 million in cuts, but was still working on how to save the rest.

When asked if he could do it without cutting services, he said: "No comment on that at this stage. That is my intention."

The freeze on clinical or administrative staffing above the present 7500 meant that the only services, outside acute care, where patient numbers would be allowed to grow this year were heart, kidney, lung and cancer treatment, he said.









The Waitemata board, which has backed off the idea of quitting fertility treatment and some dental services, expects a $12 million deficit, but the ministry has not approved this sum.

The Counties Manukau and Bay of Plenty boards withheld their deficit figures because they are still haggling with the ministry. They are trying to avoid healthcare cuts.

The Lakes board, which covers the Rotorua-Taupo district, has forecast a $1.9 million deficit.

Waikato expects a $490,000 surplus and plans new and expanded services such as in dermatology.

Northland had Government approval to run a $2.5 million deficit and was committed to maintaining services, said chief executive Ken Whelan, adding that Kaitaia Hospital's restrictions had been a separate issue.

nzherald.co.nz/hospitals