Deficit for DHB on way down

Capital & Coast District Health Board will finish the financial year up to $21 million in the red.

It’s a better-than-expected result for the health board, which has debt levels understood to be second only to those of earthquakeaffected Canterbury,

Last June, then chief executive Debbie Chin told board members that, after ‘‘20 years of deficits’’, debt levels for the year were expected to reach $28m, more than double the previous year.

It was a hangover from the regional hospital build of 2008, with the sudden surge put down to two junior doctors’ strikes, increased patient numbers, the November earthquake, and the cost of repairing faulty copper pipes.

The DHB is taking legal action against several construction companies involved in installation of the problem-plagued pipes, many of which had to be replaced.

But in a meeting on Tuesday, acting chief executive Ashley Bloomfield said the forecast for the financial year ending June 30 was ‘‘likely to be better’’ than current projections of $21m.

‘‘The DHB financial result for the end of January was on target ... and it looks like we may well be able to improve on that position.

‘‘As a management team, we’re obviously keen to improve that as much as possible because the better we do this year, the easier it makes it to improve in the next financial year.’’

Meanwhile, the charitable Wellington Hospitals Foundation trust had donated vital equipment, including three LED ceiling panels for Wellington Regional Hospital’s oncology unit, three curtains for

‘‘... the better we do this year, the easier it makes it to improve in the next financial year.’’

Ashley Bloomfield, CCDHB acting chief executive

the blood and cancer unit, and 10 wheelchairs.

The wheelchairs, worth $5000 in total, had been donated by a grandmother and CCDHB patient who ‘‘found there always seemed to be a lack of wheelchairs available when she came to the hospital for treatment’’, according to a letter from board chairman Andrew Blair.

Bloomfield had a glass-half-full approach on the hospital’s performance, announcing that Ministry of Health targets were mostly being met, despite the financial strain.

The bulk of the DHB’s $1.07 billion revenue for the year was spent on labour costs ($227.5m), followed closely by its external contracts bill ($216.6m), covering mental healthcare, aged care and fees for healthcare professionals.

Labour costs, including costs for outsourced staff, were over budget by $1.9m.

A $282,000 budget blowout for mental health costs were ‘‘mainly due to additional services related to Whitby and packages of care’’, Bloomfield’s report said.

An attempted abduction outside a Whitby facility a year ago prompted an independent review into the incident, and led to the housing unit being moved and a staffing increase.