Audit clears health boards

District health boards accused by the Government of spending mental health money on other purposes are off the hook.

Health Minister Annette King said last year that she wanted to know why some Auckland boards had diverted possibly several million dollars.

But the Herald understands that a spot audit of the three Auckland boards, plus Waikato, Capital and Coast, and Canterbury, has found no evidence that money was diverted.

The audit by the Mental Health Commission and the Ministry of Health instead found that some boards had been unable to provide the level of mental health services for which they had been paid, particularly for young people.

The main reason was staff shortages.

The boards were allowed to retain the money to spend on mental health.

A senior source at one board said: " ... we never thought there would be anything of substance [in the audit]."