Mediation mends old wounds for health board, ministry

Mediation has brought an end to a bitter stand off between Canterbury health leaders and the Government over a post-earthquake battle for funding – but the wounds have not healed completely.

Independent facilitator Garry Wilson was appointed in April to get the parties talking again in a series of meetings, a process referred to as the ‘‘way forward’’ or the ‘‘truth and reconciliation’’ process. Documents provided to The Press after a complaint to the Ombudsman reveal the relationship had become so rocky senior Government staff lobbied for changes to the governance and management of the Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB).

‘‘It would be difficult to find a situation where experienced, competent, well-intentioned and well-motivated governors and senior executives have, in the past, seen the same issues so differently,’’ Wilson wrote in an April report.

In a November briefing to the minister of health, Wilson said a decision to continue the ‘‘business as usual’’ funding arrangement after the region’s earthquakes had contributed to the CDHB’s dire financial situation and aggravated its relationship with the ministry.

‘‘CDHB’s population-based funding was not adjusted to reflect the changed patterns in health services consumption arising from the need to treat a population dealing with the psychosocial impacts of a natural disaster,’’ the memo said.

While other funding was provided to the CDHB, he said: ‘‘Alternative approaches that better reflected the situation faced by the CDHB could have been utilised, and going forward an approach that better reflects the issues facing the CDHB is needed.’’

Wilson said that would be difficult given the magnitude of the issues and the ministry’s limited ability to adjust policy settings to meet Canterbury’s unique needs.

The CDHB believed it had missed out on more than $60 million per annum in additional revenue due to faults in the way funding was allocated. But the ministry ‘‘cannot reconcile these figures and does not support this argument’’, Wilson said.

The parties had not agreed on how much debt was related to earthquake costs, including delays in the completion of the new Christchurch Hospital acute services building. A key next step was agreeing on an operating position for 2018-19 through the annual plan process.