Integrated health project followup
The GB Weekly will continue to put your questions to the appropriate people. This week we follow up some issues arising from of the public meeting.
The Interim Management Group (IMG) of the integrated health project met on Thursday this week to sort out what spokesperson Peter Burton called an “overall analysis of where we got to at the public meeting.”
“We have to make sure we’ve got responses to the multitude of questions that were presented,” said Mr Burton.
Since the public meeting on 26 April, it has become clear that the owners of the Rototai Road site, the Reilly Family Trust, are keen to continue negotiating with the IMG.
“My door is still open,” said Bernal Reilly on behalf of his family’s trust. “We offered the IMG a discount of 5 to 10 per cent on the land and we’d discount another piece of land for the St John Ambulance to co-locate to as well. That wasn’t spoken about at the public meeting.”
Mr Burton responded: “We have to keep our focus on the three health services in question: the medical centre, the rest home and the community hospital. That’s what the integration project is about. No matter what the Rototai Road site cost us, we’d have to replace the hospital. That makes it much more expensive than the existing hospital site.”
The IMG last spoke to St John representatives about three years ago, according to Mr Burton.
“We didn’t have firm plans or a fixed idea about a site when we last spoke. Of course we’re open to further discussions with St John.”
Here are some questions that the IMG, through spokesperson Peter Burton, has provided responses to:
1. Will Nelson Bays Primary Health, in its management role, be required to try and contract with locals for services such as handyman, landscaping, cleaning, laundry, electrical and plumbing repairs, general building maintenance, accountancy and tax services, information technology, or will these opportunities disappear to Nelson-based providers?
Mr Burton said that the situation will be as it is now, with local, Nelson and national providers being used when it makes sense.
2. It appears that most of the operational income of the project is set by the Government and paid as fixed subsidies, which generally fall short of true costs. Individual patient co-payments seem to be the only flexible source of funds. How much does the business case predict patient fees will rise, both initially, through integration set-up costs - and later, as a result of inflation, interest rate changes, employment law changes, and union action? Also the supply and demand aspects of finding skilled employees?
“As a condition of a general practice receiving capitation [government funding] there’s a nationwide oversight of fee movements through the DHBs. Fees can’t just go up; there’s a whole procedure about a practice having its fee schedule approved. It’s wrong to assume there would be automatically be a big increase.”
3. How much will the DHB save each year when it transfers GB Community Hospital ownership to the trust?
“There won’t be any savings because the DHB funding for services will continue, the same as it is now.”
4. Does Nelson Bays Primary Health have experience in successfully running a combined health care facility elsewhere and does the management expertise exist in the organisation at present or will new personnel be hired?
“There is considerable experience in NBPH. The sheet we distributed called “the facts of the proposal” shows that a service manager will be employed. We can’t say where that person will come from because NBPH will be appointing the best person for the job.”
Neil Wilson
