She told the board hospital advisory committee yesterday the "biggest thing" for the board should be whether it was getting the best outcome for patients.
There was enough substance in the Deloitte report to make the board ask whether it was doing things the right way and whether it had the mix right.
The 134-page report said the Otago board overpriced its own mental health services by about $3.637 million, severely limiting funding for outside community services.
Discussion at the meeting concerned a $557,000 surplus in the board's own mental health services for the year which, it was suggested, could have been transferred to fund outside services.
Regional chief financial officer Robert Mackway-Jones said transferring this amount to the section of the board which funded outside agencies would not result in extra services because there was a larger residual overall deficit. All it could do was reduce the deficit.
Committee chairman Richard Thomson said it had to be made clear that in this instance the board would be shifting money from one bank account to another, which would not make a "blind bit of difference" to the services offered.
It was important to note there had been $900,000 "clawed back" from the board services and transferred to the funding section during the past year.
Board management has said it will comment on the report after it receives documentation from the Ministry of Health clarifying what both parties agree on and what needs further discussion.
