November 14, 2014 12:00pm by David Farrar

Southern DHB funding

King believed the problems stemmed from underfunding, saying it had been six years since the board’s funding formula was altered. “I think the chronic problems are coming back to being underfunded by the Government. They [the health board] are trying to do what they can and it’s leading to what I think is a dangerous situation for the patients.”

The funding formula needed to take into account factors such as the huge area the health board covered, its ageing population and the high rates of bowel cancer in the south, King said.

“The formula isn’t taking account of these things, they need to review the formula.”

So is the Southern DHB under-funded compared to when Labour was Government?

In 2008 the Otago and Southland DHBs had a combined income of $741 million.

In 2013 the Southern DHB had income of $850 million – a 15% increase. This is a greater increase than inflation of 11% during this time.