Shorter stockings, paper cups and cheaper drugs: Canterbury health authorities outline cost cuts
Thigh-high stockings are out and paper cups are in as Canterburys cash-strapped health authority attempts to claw back costs. A range of savings are outlined in the chief executives update prepared for a Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) board meeting on Thursday. They include: - Replacing thigh-high compression stockings with knee-high stockings, saving an estimated $44,000 a year. READ MORE: * Canterbury health staff asked to pitch savings ideas as board grapples with cost-cutting * Canterbury health authorities consider cutting staff costs to claw back deficit * Funding boost will help Southern DHB balance sustainability, CEO says * Canterbury health boss keeps mum on potential health cuts * Cantabrians could face health service cuts 'of unprecedented scale' - Replacing medicine cups with paper ones, saving about $10,000 a year. - Getting rid of anti-slip socks, as there was no evidence they prevent falls, to save $84,000 a year. - Replacing a drug used in the induction of labour that costs between $100 to $300 per patient with a cheaper product that will cost $10 per patient. Saving costs may not be the primary reason for the changes, but that was the context in which they were presented to the board. The CDHB has the largest deficit of any health board in the country, largely driven by capital charge and depreciation costs. It had been forecasting a $177 million deficit for 2019-20. Stuff previously revealed the CDHB board was considering cutting operating costs by as much as $50m as part of the 2020-21 annual plan process. That could result in a reduction in staff numbers, the senior doctors union warned at the time. CDHB chief executive David Meates has also asked staff to pitch their savings ideas to him as the board grapples with reducing its deficit . We are not looking at 'tinkering around the edges' initiatives; we need to think about new and different ways of working that will help us realise significant savings, he said in the update to staff. The update outlined a range of cost saving examples. The amount of administration team overtime had dropped from $261,000 in the 11 months to May 2019 to $125,000 in the 11 months to May 2020. There had also been a focus on reducing nursing agency costs at Christchurch Hospital; in the six months to May 2020 the CDHB spent $271,000 less than in the same period the year before. The CDHB had also identified outstanding staff leave as a major liability, and had been encouraging staff to take it. Nurses at Christchurch Hospital took a total of 101,120 hours of leave during April and May 2020, a 31 per cent increase on the previous year. CDHB chief medical officer Dr Sue Nightingale said decisions to change the medicine cups, anti-slip socks and the thigh-high stockings were all part of the new treatments and technologies programme. Decisions were not based on cost alone, she said, instead they were based on evidence, benefits and outcomes for patients and cost analysis.