Curran Clare: New Zealand Public Health and Disability (Southern DHB) Elections Bill — Second ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeCurran Clare: New Zealand Public Health and Disability (Southern DHB) Elections Bill — Second Reading[Sitting date: 05 May 2016. Volume:713;Page:10843. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]CLARE CURRAN (Labour—Dunedin South): Well let me be very clear. The reason that we are here today is because this Government allowed the Southern District Health Board to get to the point where it could no longer manage. Jonathan Coleman the Minister of Health and the previous Minister Tony Ryall and their Government are responsible for this mess—the mess that has put the Southern District Health Board between a rock and a hard place. Its problems have been obvious for years and we heard Annette King say that in 2009 a Crown monitor was appointed and the district health board has been under intensive monitoring by the National Health Board since that time. Annette King called for a commissioner to be appointed in April last year and was dismissed by the Minister Jonathan Coleman. He dismissed it—and what happened a few months later? He all of a sudden realised that something had to be done quickly and he dismissed the board and appointed a commissioner.The Southern District Health Board is underfunded. That is what is wrong here. That is what is at the root of the problem. That is why we are in this mess. The previous board could not fix it because it is a fundamental issue out of its control. The existing commissioners are clearly struggling. There is no long-term plan to date. There is very little transparency. It is a big issue. It is a big problem. There is a huge deficit. They are in a hole and this Government and this Minister Jonathan Coleman are responsible.The only reason we are supporting the New Zealand Public Health and Disability (Southern DHB) Elections Bill—and I have to admit that it does gall me to do so—is because it makes Jonathan Coleman directly responsible for the fixing of our district health board and because it would be a poisoned chalice for any newly elected board right now. I am informed that there is support across the House from the other parties on this bill and that it is for those reasons. I am a standard-bearer of democracy and accountability. I love my city. I love my district health board. I love our region. I am immensely proud of our teaching hospital in Dunedin and the people who work in it and I am proud of the services across the region but they are so stretched and so under pressure.However since the commissioners took over last June we have not seen a lot of action. There has been a turnover of senior management—of some senior management—and there has been a major listening exercise undertaken. It is a major listening exercise that has cost a quarter of a million dollars and it has come up with a set of draft values—things such as: “Our kindness fosters better care and better teamwork. We listen here and communicate openly and honestly with consideration for others. We bring a positive attitude and are always looking to do things better.” And: “Our success comes from nurturing and building on our strengths in the community.” Well that is all very well but if you are not properly funded you cannot deliver the services properly and you end up in a hole with a huge deficit and that is where our district health board is at the moment.The district health board commissioners have been to see me recently. They have delivered the message that they have to come up with a plan where the district health board can live within its means. However how they do that is still very vague. There are very vague statements being made. They could not tell me specifically what the deficit projection is for next year even though there is a deficit projection on their website. I am now told that a business case for a new clinical services block will not be ready until mid - next year despite in February the Minister saying that it would be at the end of this year. Why is it taking so long? What plans are being put in place for the board to live within its means? What the hell is Jonathan Coleman going to do about this situation? When is there going to be an acknowledgment that our district health board is seriously underfunded?If these commissioners cannot do the job that they have been given to do because it is a poisoned chalice what will happen then? Will they be dismissed and will we see new ones? Is not the fundamental problem underfunding? Why will the commissioners not say so because the community knows it—and a very good example of this is the situation with Compass Group. Last year the Southern District Health Board was given the choice—no choice—to accept Compass as the contractor to provide food inside our hospitals across our region and for Meals on Wheels and look how that has turned out. Half of the people receiving Dunedin Meals on Wheels have ditched Compass. Relatives are bringing food into the hospital because the meals are so bad. Staff are expressing serious concerns about the nutritional values and about the fact that they have to serve the food that they have to care for patients who are receiving this food. This is frozen food that is being trucked in from Auckland.This is a company that paid $2 million—just $2 million—in tax last year in New Zealand. Instead it makes loans to its UK parent company and those loans have gone up six times in the last 4 years to $33 million in the last year—Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Come back to the bill.CLARE CURRAN: It is called tax avoidance and it is amoral. But the big question is—which relates to this bill because it is about the decisions that the district health board has been forced to make to save money—how did Compass Group get to be the preferred provider? Did the Government do any due diligence on Compass Group New Zealand’s tax affairs before insisting that the district health board sign a 15-year contract to deliver hospital food—a 15-year contract? Who signs a 15-year contract? Especially under these circumstances with a community that was so opposed but we were being told “Oh no”—Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Come back to the bill.CLARE CURRAN: —there would be $6.5 million in savings over X number of years—15 years I think it is. How is that going to pan out given that most of the district health boards around the country refused to take Compass Group on because they could see what a problem it was? This is a huge issue in Otago and Southland. It is an absolute disgrace that patients who are sick and vulnerable are being forced to eat slops—and yes I will use that word because that is what is happening. Four hundred people lined up outside Dunedin Hospital last Friday—Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: The member should come back to the bill. She has been given—[Interruption] Do not interrupt. Do not interrupt. Sit down. The member needs to tailor her debate to the bill. The member has been given a lot of latitude to cover the ground that she wanted to; she has done that and now it is appropriate for her to move on.CLARE CURRAN: Thank you Mr Deputy Speaker. As you can see I feel very strongly about this matter.Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: That is not the point. You have got a bill to address.CLARE CURRAN: Compass Group was taken on by the district health board—a contract was signed—to save money and this is the pressure that our district health board is being put under. The communities in Otago and Southland are absolutely opposed to this contractor—[Bell rung]—and have expressed their views on this contract which was put in place to save money because of the pressures that our district health board is under.Shortly after that contract was signed the district health board was dismissed because it could not manage the financial situation that it was in. Four hundred people stood outside our district health board in Dunedin Hospital on Friday to protest. The commissioners have spent a quarter of a million dollars in a listening exercise saying that they want to go out and listen to the community—well 400 of them stood directly outside Dunedin Hospital last Friday telling the district health board that they did not like this contract; that they wanted Compass Group sacked that they wanted to reinstate hospital food being prepared in our good hospital kitchens in Dunedin Hospital and Invercargill hospital and that the staff want it the staff are concerned the staff are being gagged from speaking out about these issues—Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! The member is still talking about this particular aspect which she has covered. There is plenty more in the bill and if she wants to make a contribution and not have her call terminated she should get back to the bill.CLARE CURRAN: Thank you Mr Deputy Speaker. The bottom line for this bill lies with Jonathan Coleman. He is the Minister; he is directly accountable. This bill says he is directly accountable for the fate of the Southern District Health Board. He is directly accountable he has got 3 years to sort out this problem and he could start with an acknowledgment that the Southern District Health Board is underfunded. He could start with coming to our region talking to people understanding how deeply concerned people are in the Southern District Health Board region and ensuring that there is a sustainable plan in place and that the district health board will not end up being underfunded.