6. Question No. 6—HealthHon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE (National) to the Minister of HealthQuestion No. 6—Health6. Hon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE (National) to the Minister of Health: Does he agree the projected final district health board combined deficits for the 2018/19 financial year will be $389.5 million as forecast by the Ministry of Health from the March 2019 figures; if not what does he expect the deficit will be?Hon Dr DAVID CLARK (Minister of Health): That forecast was made based on the best available information at the time. I do however expect the combined deficit to be larger than that in large part because of one-off costs related to legacy issues inherited by this Government. This includes historic Holidays Act pay issues that should have been resolved years ago as I think the member knows and writing down the value of assets related to the National Oracle Solution which has cost more than $100 million over seven years been much delayed and failed to deliver the anticipated benefits. Work on these longstanding issues is ongoing and it would not be appropriate to speculate about their final financial cost and the impact on district health board (DHB) deficits.Hon Michael Woodhouse: Are reports that the actual DHB combined deficits are now projected to be $460 million in the 2018-19 year accurate?Hon Dr DAVID CLARK: I have not heard that particular projection. What I will say about the figure that was covered in his primary question is that that Budget reflects the best available forecasts at the time.Hon Michael Woodhouse: When he said that his Government is investing in our health system which was neglected for nine long years" did he expect that his Government's investment in health would result in DHB deficits going down or up?Hon Dr DAVID CLARK: I make no apologies for overseeing record investment in new mental health services. I make no apologies for investing in our ageing hospital facilities and funding DHBs more sustainably. The member might want to reflect on the legacy of under-investment workforce issues and deferred capital investment that his party left behind.SPEAKER: Order! Order! The member will now answer the question.Hon Dr DAVID CLARK: Can the member please repeat the question?Hon Michael Woodhouse: When he said that his Government was "investing in our health system which was neglected for nine long years" did he expect that his Government's investment would result in DHB deficits going down or up?Hon Dr DAVID CLARK: I understand from those years of under-investment that it will indeed take more than one or two Budgets to ensure sustainability in our health sector. By DHB the results do vary because some DHBs require more investment to get on to a sustainable footing. They have been running off their balance sheets. Deficits have been going up since 2013 because of the shameful under-funding of that Government. It is too soon to say what that will mean as an overall picture. DHB by DHB it will vary because of that under-investment and the effect and long-term impact it's had on their balance sheets and on the sustainability of their services. That Government under-funded those services for nine long years and there are consequences of that.Hon Michael Woodhouse: When he said through his Associate Minister on June 13 "it's entirely possible there'll be small surpluses balanced budgets or small deficits all according to circumstances." which of those three scenarios will be most heavily represented in the final figures?Hon Dr DAVID CLARK: I think the legacy of under-funding means that probably more DHBs will be in deficit than posting surpluses at this stage. It is possible. This Government wants to see sustainable health services that provide the services that New Zealanders would expect and deserve. We're not running them into the ground like that Government did.Hon Michael Woodhouse: Is he set to oversee the biggest combined DHB deficits in New Zealand history?Hon Dr DAVID CLARK: I go back to my original answer for the member just to clarify what is driving the increases right now. These are historic issues—the historic Holidays Act pay issues that I believe that member himself sought to resolve but failed to resolve and got taken off him by Steven Joyce because he could not resolve it. Subsequently—that's if memory serves me correctly—certainly the previous Government did not solve that issue. On top of that the National Oracle Solution—a computer system which has failed to deliver the promised benefits. Tens of millions of dollars I suspect will have to be written off because of the failed oversight of that member. Yes that will mean that we will have deficits that we wouldn't want to see. That member and his Government under-invested in health for nine long years and we will be investing ourselves for quite a period to set that right."