A report on a business intelligence project has proved unintelligible for Otago District Health Board hospital advisory committee chairman Richard Thomson.
At the committee's meeting this week he said it was a "terrible admission", but he could not understand the five-page report from the board's information group.
Mr Thomson said he had a real concern that the project could "run away on us".
"I want finance all over it like a rash."
Committee member Susie Johnstone also said she found it difficult to understand, although she noted two references to unbudgeted costs being covered by the contingency for the project - " that makes any accountant nervous".
The report showed the total approved cost of the project, which is shared between the Otago and Southland boards, is $1.59 million.
So far, only $139.172 has been spent on the project, but the report to the board noted it was too early to report any variance from the budget with any real level of analysis.
The costs to date had been budgeted for, apart from some training, and any unbudgeted costs should be able to be covered under the contingency for the project.
Hardware costing $83,033 had been delivered but since only $40,000 of this amount had been set aside for this financial year, some of this cost would come out of contingency.
The report said the project was a response to the reporting issues facing the Otago and Southland boards.
Otago, in particular, was facing a real risk of not being able to access information needed for it to make business decisions.
Mr Thomson suggested the "techies" might need to explain the project to someone else so they could write a report for the committee.
