The Plan: To Eliminate Peripheral Costs

Wednesday, 26 August 2009, 5:06 pm
Press Release: Waikato District Health Board

The Plan: To Eliminate Peripheral Costs

Waikato District Health Board has no plans to cut services to the public or to make cuts in essential service delivery.

That's the message today from chief executive Craig Climo in response to media attention around the DHB's planned savings initiatives, known as The Plan, first shared with all 5800 staff nearly two months ago.

"This isn't about cost cutting because we have to cut costs.

"We're a growing organisation. In this financial year we will spend about $50 million more than we did the previous year.

"These savings are about eliminating waste around the periphery. This should not be threatening for staff."

Waikato DHB will spend more than $1 billion of capital expenditure over the next 15 years to enable growth in services desperately needed by the DHB's population.

One of the areas targeted include the large number of projects on the go in the organisation - at last count 548.

"We are going to slow those down. We might speed some up, we will drop some off and we will delay others. That will enable us to run those projects within our own resources rather than go out to third parties for assistance."

Mr Climo said The Plan was not about restructuring or making staff redundant. It was about eliminating $20 million of peripheral costs - about 2 per cent of Waikato DHB's $1 billion annual operating budget.

"There will be no loss of services either in the quantity or quality of them."

Mr Climo said he could see while finalising Waikato DHB's District Annual Plan for Health Minister Tony Ryall that the $20 million surplus target was under threat.

"The rate of our cost increases would have seen that brought right back to zero. Zero does not fund the sort of capital investment programme we have.

"If we can't fund that programme, we can't see improvements," he said.

Areas targeted for savings are:

* inter-district flow revenue
* ACC revenue
* non-resident patients
* outsourced personnel numbers
* more vigilance on overtime
* allowances (for legitimacy)
* better management of leave
* professional fees
* procurement savings
* freeze purchasing of new cars, downsize fleet by 10 per cent
* reduction of projects.

ENDS

© Scoop Media

Waikato District Health Board

Healthy People. Excellent Care

Waikato District Health Board (DHB) employs over 6500 people and plans, funds and provides hospital and health services to more than 391,770 people in a region covering eight per cent of New Zealand.

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