District Health Boards Report Operating Deficit

District Health Board Financial Statistics: December 2005 quarter — 24 February 2006

District Health Boards Report Operating Deficit

The combined operating deficit of New Zealand's 21 district health boards (DHBs) was $21.8 million for the December 2005 quarter, Statistics New Zealand said today. This was up $16.9 million on the deficit recorded in the September 2005 quarter, but down $8.5 million on the December 2004 quarter deficit.

Total DHB expenditure rose by $19.4 million to $2,297.4 million in the December 2005 quarter. The two major components of this expenditure were the direct provision of public hospital and health services (HHS), at $1,307.0 million, and the purchase of medical services from non-government providers and inter-DHB services, at $978.7 million.

The total operating expenses of the HHS providers were 1.5 percent higher than in the September 2005 quarter, and 8.6 percent higher when compared with the December 2004 quarter. Employee costs, the key expense item, were up 1.9 percent (to $829.8 million) compared with the September 2005 quarter.

Total DHB revenue rose to $2,275.6 million, with funding from the Ministry of Health increasing by $1.2 million (to $1,899.7 million) compared with the September 2005 quarter. Total DHB investment in fixed assets was $96.8 million in the December 2005 quarter, up 16.8 percent on the September 2005 quarter. For the 2005 calendar year, DHBs spent $358.1 million on additions to fixed assets, on a par with the previous 12 months.

Brian Pink

Government Statistician

ENDS

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