City missing out on health front

By MARTIN JOHNSTON

Central Aucklanders are getting less healthcare than people in some provincial areas because of discriminatory financial rules, a health board was told yesterday.

"We deliver less service to Auckland than they get in Whakatane," said Auckland District Health Board member Ian Scott.

This is because secondary-level hospitals in some areas still provide treatments such as repairing hernias. Auckland City Hospital does not.

As well as being a high-tech facility and the country's hospital of last resort, it provides secondary-level care to central Aucklanders.

Deputy chairwoman Margaret Horsburgh said: "We are in danger of not being able to offer safe secondary service in some areas."

She attributed this to a trend of base hospitals under the Government's bulk funding to take back secondary services.


The board reported a provisional deficit for the June year of $44.7 million, and the Government wants it to break even by 2006/07.

Chief executive Garry Smith said ongoing financial problems included:

* Other boards giving only weeks' notice of a cut in the volume of general surgery purchased from Auckland, leaving Auckland with the overheads, but without the revenue.

* Under-use (forgone revenue) for inpatient haematology/oncology services at Starship children's hospital, but increasing outpatient services, for which Auckland receives no extra cash.

Dr Scott said Auckland continued to be paid less than the actual costs of some treatments, including neurosurgery and some liver operations.

The Health Ministry maintains the Auckland board is over-funded by $17 million in terms of the weighted bulk funding formula.

Mr Smith said the $17 million disagreement was partly due to people from the Waitemata and Counties Manukau health districts consuming healthcare in central Auckland and the system not being able to trace them.

Because the ministry thought the Auckland board was over-paid, it could not use a population-growth top-up fund.

Chairman Wayne Brown attacked the ministry's approach.

"It's all based on crap figures of weasel worms in Wellington," he said.

The ministry's deputy director-general DHB funding and performance, Gordon Davies, said last night that mechanisms existed to pay boards for specialised treatments and for treating patients from other districts.