Contractors lose out in funding cuts

Health boards are holding the razor to contractors to satisfy Government demands for efficiencies and the shifting of money to frontline services.

The Waitemata and Auckland district health boards are reviewing their contracts with non-Government health providers and the Counties Manukau board has finished what it calls a "line-by-line review".

Counties Manukau has cut funding to external contractors by around $980,000 this year, by ending its contracts for four programmes. The cuts include two Maori health programmes and Auckland University's $200,000-a-year evaluations of the board's five-year, $10 million scheme to reduce the incidence of type 2 diabetes.

Health Minister Tony Ryall has instructed health boards to obtain better value for money and to shift existing resources into frontline services.

Counties Manukau said it had ended the $130,000-a-year Health Through the Marae contract, a smokefree health promotion and social marketing scheme, because it had decided that "hands-on" services to help Maori to quit smoking were more important.

The board said that although it had quit the $550,000-a-year Fit for Purpose programme to foster the development of the district's Maori health providers, this scheme was in addition to a Health Ministry-funded project of the same type. Investment in Maori providers "overall" was unchanged.

But two Maori health organisations criticised the Counties cuts. Taitimu Maipi, the chairman of health provider Raukura Hauora o Tainui and a member of the DHB's Maori governance committee, said he had major concerns.

He said it was important to foster the provision of health services to Maori by Maori because it increased their rate of participation.

Shane Bradbrook, the director of Maori quit-smoking group Te Reo Marama, said cutting funding to a smokefree programme was inconsistent with the Government's retaining tobacco control as a health target, particularly since Maori had the highest rate of smoking.

Counties said the effects of its cuts to non-government groups were "minimal" in the context of the DHB's total planned spending this year of $1.1 billion.

Mr Ryall, in a letter to the Auckland board about its annual plan, said the DHB had advised him of its intention to cut funding but would need to seek his approval before proceeding.

Chief planning and funding officer Denis Jury said contracts that expired after June 30 were being reviewed. Those that were to expire by June 30 had been extended to the end of the year to allow time for them to be reviewed.

CONTRACTS ENDED
* A smokefree health promotion and social marketing scheme worth $130,000 a year.
* An evaluation of Let's Beat Diabetes programme, $200,000.
* A service to co-ordinate responses from primary health organisations, $100,000 - but service will continue until existing money runs out.
* Maori provider development, $550,000.