Senior doctor at Dunedin Hospital leaves with $408,000 payout

Otago Daily Times

19 Dec, 2017 07:25 PM2 mins to read

A Dunedin Hospital senior doctor was paid $408,000 in a severance payment. Photo / 123rf

A Dunedin Hospital senior doctor was paid $408,000 in a severance payment in 2016-17, it has emerged.

The figure was released yesterday in the Southern District Health Board's annual report.

The second highest termination settlement was $178,000.

To allay speculation the biggest payout was that of former chief executive Carole Heatly, the DHB said it was for a departing clinician.

''We are unable to share details of individual employment matters. However, we can confirm that the $408,000 payment does not relate to any management position within the DHB.

''The payment was in line with a nationally agreed collective employment agreement terms and conditions,'' DHB chief executive Chris Fleming said.

Fleming declined to give further detail, but the Otago Daily Times understands the clinician was a Dunedin Hospital specialist.

The 15 termination payments were worth $698,000 in total, compared with 18 the previous year, worth $643,000.

The report reveals another significant increase in the number of staff paid more than $100,000.

In 2016-17, 656 staff were paid more than $100,000, compared with 603 in 2015-16, and 561 in 2014-15.

At the top end, three staff were paid more than $520,000, when the previous year the highest paid was in the $500,000 to $510,000 band.

Commissioner Kathy Grant received $164,000 remuneration, and deputy commissioners Graham Crombie and Richard Thomson were paid $90,000 and $54,000 respectively.

The report's preamble canvassed a difficult year in which the board struggled with patient care crises in some services, although it emphasises ''achievements''.

''There have been important successes, including progress in meeting the target for providing faster cancer treatment and implementing the new raising healthy kids target.

''However, other areas have troubled us, including meeting our elective surgery targets and achieving shorter stays in the emergency department.

''The past year has also required us to confront major service challenges in ophthalmology and urology, where our systems and processes were unable to meet demands.

''The impact on patients has been unacceptable, and addressing the situation has required us to consider all aspects of the services, from our administrative processes, to the capacity of the service and developing more sustainable models of care,'' the report said.