The Government must act urgently to ensure that services are able to be maintained at Lakeland Health, National's Health spokesperson Roger Sowry said today.

"This is a problem the Government has known about for months. Lakeland District Health Board told the Health Select Committee in March that it would become insolvent if it didn't get a capital injection.

"Today we hear the board can't pay its bills and will run out of money by the end of the month.

"The Government has ignored the warnings and done nothing. This is demoralising for staff, giving them little motivation to stay, and means uncertainty for health services throughout the area. People in the lakes area just don't know if they'll get treatment when they need it.

"How long is Health Minister Annette King prepared to let a board continue to struggle with 50 staff vacancies while running a $4 million deficit?

"When I visited Lakeland Health in April the seriousness of the situation was becoming clear. I just simply can't believe that the Minister has not acted," Mr Sowry said.

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