2 Mar 2012

DHB funding squeeze predicted

7:38 am on 2 March 2012

A hospital doctors union predicts increased pressures on district health boards over the next three years.

The Association of Salaried Medical Specialists says Nelson Marlborough DHB warned employees in mid January about a deteriorating financial position, and others are likely to follow.

Association executive director Ian Powell says DHBs are being squeezed between smaller increases in their Government funding and increased expectations by the Government about what they should deliver.

But Nelson Marlborough corporate services general manager Nick Lanagan says financial pressures are not new and he believes the board has begun to turn around a deteriorating financial position.