No sign of end to health institutions' major fund clash

A funding wrangle between southern health institutions believed to involve millions of dollars shows no sign of being resolved more than two years after being referred to the Ministry of Health's business unit.

A ministry spokesman said this week there was ''no agreed time frame'' for resolving the dispute between the Southern District Health Board and South Link Health, which dates to the 1990s. No further comment or clarification was available, he said.

It is understood the amount claimed is in the millions of dollars.

Referred to the National Health Board's Christchurch audit and compliance unit shortly before the February 2011 earthquake, the dispute relates to pharmaceutical and laboratory services in the days of the Southern Regional Health Authority.

In late 2011, the ministry told the Otago Daily Times the matter had been held up by the earthquake because the unit had been based in the red zone.

South Link Health executive director Prof Murray Tilyard said he had not heard anything about the dispute for a long time, perhaps more than a year. That was not unusual for a dispute such as this, in which correspondence had been infrequent.

''We've always maintained that we did everything correctly ...''

As far as South Link was concerned, no money was owed, he said.

The Otago Daily Times lodged an Official Information Act request with the ministry yesterday to obtain further information.

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