9. Question No. 9—HealthHon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE (National) to the Minister of HealthQuestion No. 9—Health9. Hon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE (National) to the Minister of Health: Is it his expectation that district health boards operate within the fiscal appropriation provided to them by the Government?Hon Dr DAVID CLARK (Minister of Health): My primary expectation is that district health boards will deliver the high-quality health services their local population need and deserve. That's why this Government is investing a record amount in our DHBs including an extra $2.8 billion of operating funding in Budget 2019 and it's why we've hired 1500 more nurses nearly 600 more doctors and over 500 more allied health workers since coming to office. I do expect DHBs to demonstrate sound financial management and map out a path to financial sustainability but after years of underfunding it's not realistic to expect all DHBs to run surpluses particularly when they have one-off historic costs such as compliance with the Holidays Act to address.Hon Michael Woodhouse: Is he satisfied with a combined deficit that has ballooned from $90 million to nearly $1.1 billion in just two years?Hon Dr DAVID CLARK: I don't accept the member's characterisation of that and as the member knows well over half of the total DHB deficit is a result of one-off costs including more than half a billion relating to Holidays Act compliance dating back as far as 2010. In fact one-off costs total $666 million in the deficit—$666 million—all historic legacies of the previous Government. The member with the number 666 in front of him should be careful of the questions he asks because the devil is in the detail.Hon Michael Woodhouse: Given that answer has he seen reports that DHBs repeatedly told the previous Government that they had been quite diligent about making sure their payroll systems are compliant and can confidently say that all DHBs are compliant with the legislation."?Hon Dr DAVID CLARK: I accept that the previous Government failed to notice the problem that working people were being underpaid for years and years and years and I accept that on this side of the House we have inherited a lot of challenges left to us by the previous Government: neglect of our buildings neglect of the health system as a whole and in this instance the Holidays Act mess to clean up and fund so that workers get paid a fair amount for the work that they did even under the previous Government's watch.Hon Michael Woodhouse: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. Very interesting answer—that did not address a clear question of "had he seen reports with those quotes in them?"SPEAKER: Well I thought it was implied in the—I at least inferred it from the answer that he had seen reports about it.Hon Dr DAVID CLARK: If I may add further I've seen the member's press release to that effect.SPEAKER: I wouldn't really regard that as a report.Hon Michael Woodhouse: Does he believe he has increased DHB funding in the manner committed to by Dr David Clark in 2017?Hon Dr DAVID CLARK: This Government has invested a record amount in DHBs: $2.8 billion in the Wellbeing Budget; $2.3 billion the year before. We've said that in our first four years of Government we wanted to invest $8 billion in the health system over the forecast period and we're well on track to do that.Hon Michael Woodhouse: In that case why does he continue to blame the previous Government when he believes he has put in sufficient funding to make DHBs viable?Hon Dr DAVID CLARK: As I've said many times before it will take more than two Budgets to make up for nine long years of neglect. They ran the health system into the ground and it will take us a wee while to put that right.Hon Michael Woodhouse: When is he going to take responsibility for the clinical and financial performance of the health sector on his watch rather than blame the previous Government?Hon Dr DAVID CLARK: I'll take responsibility when I've finished cleaning up that Government's mess."