Lester Levy: Health Commissioner on Health NZ's deficit decreasing by $660 million

Health Commissioner Lester Levy says a lower health deficit than expected is a sign of progress.  

Health New Zealand's revealed a $1.1 billion deficit – well short of the $1.76 billion it initially reported. 

The Opposition's accused the Government of manufacturing a crisis to justify its cuts.  

Levy told Mike Hosking he's confident Health New Zealand will be at zero deficit in three years, assuming nothing unexpected happens.  

But he says that's a temporary and fixable problem, unlike the real problem of long waiting times. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
So good news from Health New Zealand. Still ugly, but
it ain't as ugly as it was. The one point
seven six billion dollar deficit has been revised down to
one point one. The target, though, of returning to budget
has been pushed back a year to mid twenty seven.
Health New Zealand Commission the Lester Levy back with us
morning to you, morning, Mike. Is the six hundred ish
million so far proof it can be done? And this
is progress?

Speaker 2 (00:21):
Yeah? I think it is progress definitely. The issue really
make is that the time that it actually takes to
arrange the cost out and that's the main reason for
the rephasing over three years. In the first year a
lot of the work gets done, the majority of the
work actually, But do you find the savings really mainly

(00:42):
fall into the following year, the twenty five twenty six year,
So it's still the same amount. The aim is still
to get to zero deficit, but this will take three
years rather than two two.

Speaker 1 (00:56):
Are you presenting this morning with more clarity? In other words,
you can say with confidence it will be done or not.

Speaker 2 (01:04):
Yeah, well, you know it's always difficult to say with
absolute confidence. But right at the moment, you know, it
depending if nothing else happens. That's significant, you know, that's unexpected. Yeah,
I think that's a very confident that we will get
the deficit down to zero. Yeah, very confident about that.

(01:26):
I guess the main issue for us is that's a
temporary and fixable problem. What we're really putting our attention
to is the real problem, and that is the long
waiting times for patients. Yeah, that's really what we have
to fix, of.

Speaker 1 (01:43):
Course, and so the big question is can you do
that with the money that you are allocated once you
get back to budget.

Speaker 2 (01:50):
Yes, we believe we can. You know, we've got a
six point four percent uplift. Unlike most other public organizations,
we have that in place for the next two years,
so we've got a three year track. Yeah, it's quite
difficult because there's a lot to change in the organization.
There's a lot to change about the organization's culture and

(02:11):
the way in which it works, which we're working on.
But yeah, within our current resources, there is very significant
opportunity and potential to do a lot more.

Speaker 1 (02:22):
How much difficulty are you facing with the public messaging
given there are so many stories out there, you're underfunded,
nurses can't get jobs. The waiting lines are a disaster
hospitals or a shambles, nurses are on strike. It just
paints an overall picture of chaos, whether there result not.

Speaker 2 (02:43):
I don't think it is chaos, but I think there
is a lot happening. And of course in healthcare there
are and always have been, different vested interests and different messages.
I think that the key important messages funding has increased
and continues to increase, and on an international comparative basis,

(03:03):
we're in a very good position. There's been a recent
article in the New England General Medicine that actually clearly shows.

Speaker 1 (03:08):
That we're above a number of other countries that we
might be surprised about.

Speaker 2 (03:14):
Indeed countries that are wealthier than ours. So I think
the issue for us, and it's not often thought about,
is it's not the funding we get, but it's also
the efficiency and effectiveness with which we allocate that funding
within our organization. And we're doing a lot to change that.
We want to bring more of our resources to be

(03:35):
more proximal to the outcomes that we're actually looking for,
primarily waiting time reduction. This will require productivity, which hasn't
been a focus for the organization. There is more we
can do with the resources we.

Speaker 1 (03:49):
Have, so one can do. This makes you well for
the Christmas season Lester Lester Levy, the Health New Zealand Commissioner,
with us this morning. I tend to agree. I was
going to put it to them, but I'm not going
to ask Lester why they continues one to health. There
is no deficit, just chronic underfunding. It's simply not true.
The Prime Minister's right when he says thirty billion dollars
for a country of five million people is more than enough.

(04:09):
The key, as he said, is not the amount of money,
it's how you spend it. For more from the Mic
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