There has been a lot of talk lately about our hospital seeking sponsorship to help balance its budget while maintaining the services our community deserves and expects. While the lateral thinking shown by the Mid-Central District Health Board is to be applauded, the fact that this idea even has to be contemplated shows just what a horrific state of affairs the Government had created in our health system.

Providing a robust health system is a core Government function. Our public hospitals should not be out in the market competing for already scarce financial resources relied upon by our community organisations. The recent Relay for Life raised over $200,000 for the Cancer Society. Not one dollar of that money should be diverted to the provision of services that the Government is responsible for.

Mid-Central DHB recently appeared before the Health Select Committee to discuss their financial position and their plans for the immediate future. The chairman and chief executive explained to the committee that they have submitted a recovery plan to Minister of Health Tony Ryall that would see the DHB achieve a break-even position within two years. However the Minister has written to them expressing his disappointment in their plan and his demand that they break even within 12 months.

This is a dangerously short timeframe for any organisation that spends over $400 million a year to cut close to 10% of its spending. There is no doubt that front-line services – those the National Party promised to improve – are in the gun if the DHB is to achieve such drastic cuts.

Our DHB is stuck between a rock and a hard place. The Minister made his demands then walked away. The local community rightly expects our services to continue. You can’t blame Mid-Central for looking for new sources of funding when the Government is making life so difficult, but sucking resources out of our community is not the answer.

First published in the Guardian, March 2010