Reprieve for board in health budget revision

Press, 20 April 1982, Page 3

Reprieve for board in health budget revision

A revision of the Government’s health budget means that the North Canterbury Hospital Board has escaped cuts in its spending power. The board, allocated $112,842,520 after the 1981 Supplementary Estimates, had been faced with a 0.7 per cent cut in its allocation this financial year, but a new figure, $133,550,693, announced yesterday by the Minister of Health (Mr Malcolm), brought a reprieve. Under the revision of the population-based figures the Nelson Hospital Board has had its cut reduced from 1 per cent to 0.74 per cent. The Marlborough and West Coast boards will still face a 1 per cent cut in their funding. The allocations, to meet the running expenses of hospital boards during the 198283 financial year, total more than $1122 million, about 20 per cent higher than last year. But Mr Malcolm said that while the allocation showed a growth in dollar terms, this was not the case in real terms.

“The allocation includes finance for community care projects and commissioning grants funded from supplementary grants during 198182,” he said. “It would be easy to be fooled into thinking that because the national total of

the allocation is 20 per cent higher than last year, this represents a high rate of growth. In fact, 19.6 per cent of the 20 per cent represents salary, wage, and price stabilisation.” Mr' Malcolm said that price stabilisation would be reviewed again in the Supplementary Estimates. “I announced in March that some boards are being required to accept further restraint, of up to 1 per cent, in their base grants as a first step towards a more equitable population-based funding system,” the Minister said.

“At that stage, using data prepared in 1981, the impact would fall largely on the Wellington, Waikato, North Canterbury, and Otago hospital boards. Marlborough, Nelson, and the West Coast were also affected. “On the latest information, the situation has changed slightly. “Up-dated data for the mental health-mental illness population, the population statistics from the 1981 census, and the approved funding levels for 1981-82 have become available.”

The boards now required to exercise restraint are Marlborough (1 per cent), Nelson (0.74 per cent), Otago (1 per cent), Southland (1 per cent), Waikato (0.74 per cent),

Wellington (1 per cent), and West Coast (1 per cent). Mr Malcolm said he was confident that the grants which Parliament would be asked to appropriate for 1982-83 would enable the hospital boards to continue an adequate level of service to the public. The allocations announced yesterday show a $186.25 million increase on the allocations provided after the 1981 Supplementary Estimates. The figures for hospital boards in the circulation area of “The Press” are as follows, with the allocation approved after the 1981 Supplementary Estimates given in brackets:— North Canterbury, $133,550,693 ($112,842,520); Ashburton, $8,665,654 ($7,080,708); Marlborough, $11,169,943 ($9,277,937); Nelson, $33,050,610 ($28,123,938); South Canterbury, $17,817,144 ($14,610,111); Waitaki, $5,638,064 ($4,615,726); West Coast, $19,064,216 ($15,651,795).

The chairman of the North Canterbury Hospital Board (Mr T. C. Grigg) said yesterday the board was pleased that it would no longer have to face a cut in its base grant but warned that restraints would have to be maintained because of the uncertainty of commissioning grants.

Several projects and services were affected by the uncertainty of future funding and represented a total of $2 million a year in running costs, he said. “We will need to save approximately $1.5 million to ensure the future of these services,” Mr Grigg said. “No commitment has been made by the Government that the commissioning grants for these will be continued. “We plan to send a deputation to Wellington to resolve the uncertainty as soon as possible.” Some of the projects affected include the neurosurgical service, the hostel and self-care complex at Burwood Hospital’s spinal injuries unit, and several areas in the Riverside ward block at Christchurch Hospital. “There are a number of new projects being developed as well and as these have gone ahead without any commitment that any additional finance will be available for them, the costs of staffing required will need to come from savings in other areas,” Mr Grigg said. Possible cuts to services to achieve the savings would be discussed tomorrow by the board’s finance committee. Mr Grigg said that tileboard's capital account had to be underspent last year by $400,000 to keep its total overspending to $29,000.