Hospices to receive funding to ease pressure

10 January 2006

Hospices to receive funding to ease pressure

Bay of Plenty District Health Board has arranged contracts with Waipuna Hospice and Community Hospice Eastern Bay of Plenty to disburse an additional $284,000 of hospice funding.

The additional funding was provided by the Ministry of Health to the Bay of Plenty District Health Board in August 2005, and the Board's Funding Management Committee approved allocation of the available funds between hospices in September 2005.

The health board expects that funding will be paid out this month once contracts are signed by both hospices and the health board is invoiced for payment.

Bay of Plenty District Health Board's Acting Chief Executive, Graham Dyer, says that the health board has a robust process in place for contracting and payment for services, and is pleased that the much needed hospice funding is expected to be handed over this month.

"However, it does take time for funding allocations to be discussed with providers, approved by the Finance Management Committee, for contracts to be prepared by HealthPAC, for these to be signed by all parties and for invoices to be raised and payments made," he says.

"As a health board, we are extremely grateful for the valuable service that our hospices provide to dying people and their families within our communities, and we hope that this extra funding will help ease the pressure on hospices around the country."

The additional $5 million for local hospices around the country was announced by the Health Minister in April last year as part of an additional $6 million for palliative care as part of the Government's Cancer Control Strategy.

NOTE : The $284,000 is exclusive of GST. As a result of the Government's announcement last April, hospices expected $320,000 (the GST inclusive amount).

ENDS

© Scoop Media