Canterbury Dhb Leads the Country

MEDIA RELEASE
May 2, 2013
 
Canterbury Dhb Leads the Country with Top Marks from the Auditor General
 
Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) is the first DHB ever to achieve the Government’s highest rating for robust service performance reporting.
 
The Office of the Auditor General recently released its report on the 2011/2012 audits on public health sector organisations. CDHB’s service performance reporting earned a ‘very good’ grade making it the first DHB to do so. CDHB has also received a ‘very good’ grade for its management control environment reporting.
 
Peter Ballantyne, Chair of CDHB’s Quality, Finance, Audit and Risk Committee (QFARC) and Deputy Board Chair, said achieving this result was one of the highlights of his time at the DHB.
 
“It’s momentous – this is an incredible result and a credit to everyone involved across the Canterbury health system who have each done their bit to ensure our systems and processes are robust.
 
“We should be incredibly proud of this achievement – it’s the gold standard in terms of providing confidence to the community and government that we are responsible stewards of the substantial public funding we invest in health services – over $1.4 billion each year.
 
“Reporting comprehensive and clear performance shows we are making good progress towards improving health outcomes and importantly, we are getting value for money.”
 
Mr Ballantyne said what made it even more significant was the fact CDHB has achieved this against a backdrop of disruption. The period covered by this audit includes the September 2011 and February 2012 earthquakes.
 
“Audits and performance reporting may seem dull to some people, but I can tell you this is a huge feather in the cap of everyone working in the Canterbury health system. It’s an incredible achievement. This top-level endorsement is what we aspire to. The challenge for us now is to maintain this ranking during the ongoing disruptions to our service delivery,” he said.
 
In her report, the Auditor General, Lynn Provost, said CDHB’s achievement was particularly noteworthy as only 4 percent of all public entities assessed achieved a ‘very good’ rating for service performance reporting in the 2011/2012 year.
 
Mr Ballantyne said it was another tangible result that reinforced CDHB has a high performing health system made up of talented people who were breaking new ground on many fronts.
 
“Transforming the Canterbury health system, collaborating on innovative new ways of working and successfully integrating primary, secondary and tertiary services through health alliances and new ways of contracting are proving their worth,” he said.
 
“Our alliancing initiatives and high-trust contracting agreements also feature in the Auditor General’s report and I was very pleased to see that Canterbury health system’s open and transparent ways of working, emphasis on consistent quality services and value for money were all highlighted.”
 
ENDS

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