The Southern District Health Board spends more time deliberating behind closed doors now because annual planning work, which used to be done in workshops, has shifted to DHB meetings, chairman Joe Butterfield says.
Mr Butterfield was responding to a query from the Otago Daily Times about why time spent behind closed doors at meetings appeared to be increasing.
In the 12 meetings from May 2011 to May 2012 (there was no January meeting) the board spent about 11 and a-half hours in open meetings, which the public and media can attend.
In the same period, it spent about 34 hours deliberating behind closed doors.
Mr Butterfield said: "I am advised that, previously, annual planning work was mostly done in workshops outside the public-excluded sessions.
"Much of this work is now undertaken within the public-excluded sessions of our meetings."
Workshops are not open to the public, although their minutes can be requested from the DHB.
Much of the information was commercially sensitive, or related to patient privacy, he said.
Implementing recommendations from National Health Board reviews of Dunedin Hospital and Wakatipu health services had also increased the need to go into public-excluded sessions, for detailed discussion of contracting and staffing issues.
The DHB was endeavouring to release decisions made during its public-excluded sessions whenever possible, he said.
