The financially troubled Southern District Health Board is putting the squeeze on contracted providers to reduce costs.
In a letter to providers, and a general media release, both released yesterday, the board says it wants to reduce the cost of work carried out by community-based providers.
The providers' letter said the board faced an ''increasingly challenging financial future''.
''Greater efficiencies will now be an explicit expectation every year, for both the services the DHB delivers and the services the DHB funds.
''Future contract negotiations will focus on how you can contribute to cost savings in the southern health system.''
The board spends about $373 million a year on contracts in the community sector, which includes rural hospitals, compared with about $460 million on services provided directly.
Planning and funding director Sandra Boardman, in an interview, said the letter and media release were designed to set the scene for this year's negotiations.
The board was always seeking to save money, so it was nothing out of the ordinary.
However, she acknowledged the board usually neither wrote to all providers at once, nor issued a media release on the matter.
Mrs Boardman refused to say whether community-based providers could expect to receive inflation-adjusted increases.
Asked if the community-based sector was already run on a leaner basis than in-house health board services, she said this was not necessarily the case.
''This is about everybody. What can everyone do to contribute to the DHB living within its means?
''Yes we will get more funding from central Government next year than we had this year, but we are not living within our means.''
At this month's board meeting, it was revealed the health board had exceeded its annual forecast deficit in just the first six months of the financial year.
