DHB tight-lipped on budget cuts

Bay of Plenty District Health Board is steering clear of the political stoush following leaked Cabinet papers that reveal the Government is being advised to cut the health budget by about $200 million.

According to a recent TVNZ report, the Treasury warned that the Government's operating budget was 'over-subscribed”, which meant making 'difficult trade-offs” in next year's budget.


Bay of Plenty District Health Board have refused to comment on speculation surrounding the health budget.

The leaked cabinet paper offers two options for Cabinet approval - one from Treasury of $250 million and one from the Ministry of Health of $320 million.

Treasury says under either option the financial pressures facing DHBs are 'considerable” and, as a result, 'cost efficiencies” are needed.

The documents come at the beginning of Jonathan Coleman's tenure as Health Minister after he took over from former Bay of Plenty MP Tony Ryall.

Since then there have been differing perspectives in the health sector nationwide, including Waikato District Health Board's claim that they 'will manage” should cuts be made.

Bay of Plenty District Health Board chief executive Phil Cammish told SunLive the DHB won't be making any comment on the political speculation in spite of the anxiety the leaked papers has created elsewhere.

'The funding envelope has not yet been made available to DHBs so it is not appropriate to comment on what are hypothetical sums,” he says.

'However, what we can say is that the BOPDHB has met its budgets in each of the last eight financial years and anticipates it will do so again in this financial year.

'Indeed, our annual plan forecasts a small surplus of $250,000.”

Health traditionally receives a large chunk of new budget spending to keep up with inflation and population growth

If implemented, longer waiting lists and fewer services are just some of the things New Zealanders could be facing at the country's hospitals.

Association of Salaried Medical Specialists executive director Ian Powell has said the public health system is creaking and straining under the pressure.

'It won't be a squeeze,” says Ian, 'it will be something quite brutal. The public system has suffered severe financial constraints for three or four years.”

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