Source: Radio New Zealand
Health Minister Simeon Brown. RNZ / Mark Papalii
Hospitals and public health services across the country have been asked to find more than half-a-billion dollars in “efficiencies” to re-invest in patient care.
In a response to written parliamentary questions from Labour’s health spokesperson Dr Ayesha Verrall, Health Minister Simeon Brown confirmed Health NZ’s four regions had been set “efficiency targets” of between 2-4.9 percent.
Reducing “waste” in back-office and procurement functions could free up up about $510 million, which could be “re-invested straight back into patient care” and government health targets, without reducing clinical staff, Brown said.
However, Verrall questioned how Health NZ could identify specific “efficiency targets”, but not specify exactly what should be cut.
“Five-hundred-million dollars is a massive amount to cut from health services, and to say they’ll do this without any accountability about where it’s coming from or where it’s going is absolutely outrageous.”
According to the document, efficiency targets by region are:
- Northern 3.7 percent ($170m)
- Midland 2 percent ($55m)
- Central 4.1 percent ($124m)
- South Island 4.9 percent ($161m)
The efficiency targets are applied to “other operating cost” budgets, which do not include staffing budgets.
Labour health spokesperson Dr Ayesha Verrall RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
However, the senior doctors’ union said so-called “back office” cuts already made it difficult for clinicians to care for their patients.
Association of Salaried Medical Specialists executive director Sarah Dalton said the constant cost-cutting did not make sense and, in some cases, cost more money in the the long-run.
“On the one hand, they’re saying they spending more money on health,” she said. “On the other, they’re constantly demanding savings, which they claim will not impact front-line care.”
More of the health budget seemed to be spent on locums to fill the gaps left by staff shortages, outsourcing to private hospitals, and paying external consultants to do work that could and should be done by permanent staff, Dalton said.
The minister said the budget was the budget and it did not change, but the targets were simply about “making that budget go further for patients in their respective regions”.
The targets would not be used to meet the projected 2025/26 deficit of $200m, he said.
Examples of efficiencies already realised this year included saving $6m in insurance premiums, reducing unused office space and improved purchasing of medical supplies.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
