SDHB chief financial officer Clive Smith said the board would save ‘‘more than’’ $5 million over 15 years. The original figure was "more than" $7 million. The new figure is still a forecast, and could go up or down in future.
Mr Smith disclosed the new figure in response to a question asked by Natalie Wilson, of Dunedin, during the public forum of the commissioner meeting in Dunedin yesterday.
Ms Wilson questioned a lack of transparency around the deal.
"Everything seems to be so secret. People are really interested in the whole Compass issue."
Ms Wilson questioned if there had been pressure on the board to agree to the 15-year deal in 2015.
Deputy commissioner Richard Thomson told Ms Wilson there had been no pressure. Mr Thomson is the only member of the commissioner team who voted on it, because he was an elected board member at the time.
Mr Thomson was initially opposed to, and voted against, the deal, but changed his mind in the final vote to support it. At the time, he said he based his decision on nutritional information, cost-savings, safeguards in the contract and other considerations.
In May 2015, Mr Thomson wrote an opinion piece in the Otago Daily Times in a bid to dispel community disquiet and explain the benefits. The cost-savings figure has changed because meal prices were renegotiated when few DHBs joined the deal. The SDHB now has to pay Compass Group more for meals than expected.
When contacted, Dunedin South MP Clare Curran said the board should release the financial analysis behind the revised savings figure. The board should be more proactive in releasing new information about the deal, given the level of public interest, she added.
