20 June 2013

Further budget cuts will push DHB staff to breaking point

District health board staff in the Auckland region are bearing the brunt of reduced government funding which will cost jobs and push some to breaking point, according to the Public Service Association.

All three district health boards – Auckland, Waitemata and Counties-Manukau – have to pare back their budgets even further due to an on-going shortfall in government funding and have been briefing staff on plans which will lead to major service reviews and likely job losses.

The CTU estimates that in the last Budget alone, District Health Boards have been underfunded by $111 million.

PSA National Secretary Richard Wagstaff says years of DHB underfunding are taking a heavy toll and the constant search for savings under the threat of job losses is impacting on staff morale.

“We have done workload surveys across the DHBs with our members which show that staff are facing increasingly unmanageable workloads and have to put in more and more overtime hours to cope with their day- to-day work.”

“Added to workload pressures, staff say that cost-saving decisions by DHBs not to fill vacancies is making it even more difficult to maintain service levels,” he says.

As DHBs try to live within limited means, services will be squeezed even further. Mental health services at the Waitemata DHB for example are facing major saving targets across all areas.

“That will see deep cuts in administration support and review of staffing in adult inpatient units. Acute mental health community services are being asked to find target savings of $1 million which could affect patient care,” Mr Wagstaff says.

The Counties Manukau DHB is also having to find an additional $17 million in savings and says it will have to make efficiencies which will involve job changes and some redundancies.

Richard Wagstaff says “we acknowledge that the government is putting DHBs in a very difficult position by continuing to cut funding while demanding they meet ambitious targets.”

DHBs continue to rely on old methods of restructuring and cuts which have become an entrenched way of doing business in our health system.

“What is needed is some genuine and comprehensive engagement with staff and unions to find alternative ways of doing things – not simply tick-the-box consultation. The PSA has repeatedly offered to work closely with the DHBs to find cost savings, and work more efficiently while at the same time prioritising job security for their staff.
ENDS

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