Auckland Health Board denies job cuts

The Auckland District Health Board told ministers that eradicating its underlying $100 million deficit could be equated to scrapping more than 1000 jobs.

A board report given to National's health spokesman Paul Hutchison can be read as indicating that the board is considering cutting that many fulltime equivalent jobs.

A Health Ministry analysis of the board's deficit, also given to National, says although the board may drop some services provided to patients from other districts, their boards would "largely" pick them up.

"It's not clear and that's why it's so important for it to be clarified," Dr Hutchison said yesterday.

Board chairman Wayne Brown said there was no plan to cull 1300 jobs, despite the information in the board report, which was from a presentation to ministers in June.

"That was just to indicate the equivalent value [of the deficit measured in jobs] ... to point out to the ministers the size of the problem rather than being a plan to do it."

The ministry report says a saving of $11 million "is available" from staff cuts over three years, including $3.2 million "projected savings" in nursing, the equivalent of about 45 fulltimers.

But board chief executive Garry Smith said there were no plans for staff cuts, although all health services were being reviewed.

The ministry report anticipates ructions over the inevitable deficit plans.

"The actions which ADHB must take include some which may generate high levels of discomfort within the DHB and potentially intense media comment."

The board's report says it is less efficient than comparable health boards and that on a fulltime basis its staff are paid on average $2523 more than those at Counties Manukau.

Auckland board officials calculate that its "underlying" $100 million deficit is caused by a $40 million "pay gap"; $16 million from inefficiency; $23 million from interest and other capital investment costs mainly for the new Auckland City Hospital; and $21 million from "service issues" such as the cost of providing highly specialised treatments and the city's oversupply of aged residential care beds.

Dr Hutchison, who seized on the board's admission that it had not had a culture of cost control, said Health Minister Annette King ought to have made the reports public.

But Ms King said Auckland's issues were not easily solved and had not been fixed under the last National-led Government.

The papers were part of the board's annual plan process, which was not yet complete, she said.

The Government would not normally release such papers until the annual plan process was complete - and no one had requested their release.

She predicted Auckland's deficit would be much less than $100 million.