Hospital Board spending problem

Press, 19 November 1981, Page 6

Hospital Board spending problem

The North Canterbury Hospital Board had overspent its budget by $711,800 at the end of October but had underspent its communityhealth allocation, which is funded separately by the Government, by $106,000, the board’s finance committee was told yesterday. A member of the committee. Mr T. M. McGuigan, said that some community-care projects were short of staff. People had left some pro-jects-in February, 1981, and had not been replaced. The board should not be putting restraints on com-

munity health; the money cou]d not be used in other areas. Mr McGuigan said, “We seem to be cutting back in an area where it is not necessary to do so. For a comparatively small vote, to be underspent by $106,000 in seven months must represent a reduction in services.” The board’s medical super-intendent-in-chief, Dr R. A. Fairgray, said that staff shortages had arisen in community health-care projects because of a lack of applicants for some jobs and an “uncertainty of the future.”

Some projects had been funded for a limited time. The primary health-care unit had originally been funded for two years only. Dr Fairgray said, “There is no. way we are going to offer jobs if they are not going to be there in six months.” No jobs had been withheld deliberately unless there had been special reasons and such action had been agreed to by'the board. Mr McGuigan said that the overspending was a serious situation which was beyond the board’s control. The pub-

lic should be made aware • that the overspending had been forced on the board by Government cutbacks.. Funding for supplies and expenses, which had both continued to increase, was the area needing the greatest attention. The chairman of the board, Mr T. C. Grigg, said that steps had been taken to trim ( spending but it would be a “couple of months” before the effects would be noticeable. The board’s chief executive, Mr R. I. Parker, said

that the overspending was about 1 per cent of the board’s budget of $5B million. Although the board was close to budget it had to be careful of public criticism that hospital boards were overfunded. Mr McGuigan said that the board could face a 2 per cent cut in finance next year. The Minister of Health (Mr Gair) had written to Mr Grigg telling him that it would be premature to implement a population-based funding formula for hospital boards for at least one year.