Govt Underfunds Health Board For Liveable Wage

“The Government must move immediately to fund the Canterbury District and other Health Boards so they can pay a minimum health wage of $15 per hour,” said Paul Piesse, co-leader of the Alliance party today.

“This is especially urgent in the light of disturbing comments about slashing services next year made at Friday’s Canterbury District Health Board meeting.”

“The Board is facing a budget deficit of $6.5m and is intent on making so called efficiencies to cover that,” said Paul Piesse. “Given that support staff have already been reviewed and cut to the bone for ‘efficiencies’ over the last period, this can only mean direct cuts to services.”

“The CDHB meeting continued to receive reports claiming that Canterbury health was over-funded on the population based funding (PBF) model and that the Government was correct in giving less to Canterbury health,” said Paul Piesse.

Paul Piesse said that this was plainly incorrect and the assumptions behind the PBF model were fatally flawed. “Already the Government has acknowledged that the model is being reviewed to look at the false assumptions built in, depending on how many Maori lived in each area.”

“Certainly the PBF model cannot handle the large scale corrections needed with the revaluation of health workers pay,” said Paul Piesse. “The Government needs to do what its counterparts have done in the UK National Health System and fund a minimum wage to $15 per hour.”

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