Mr Rousseau told the DHB's disability support advisory committee the board needed to examine its priorities to put more resources into speeding up the reorganisation, which will have the elderly grouped in geographical "clusters" around GP clinics to keep them out of residential care.
"I think we could achieve some gains significantly quicker [with more resources]."
Priority setting was not something the DHB had done well in the past, he said. It was "pointless" devising time-consuming plans that the board had no money to implement.
Reorganising resources to ensure the right work was carried out would be a the key task of the board's new chief executive, said Mr Rousseau, who leaves the job next month.
Finance and funding general manager Robert Mackway-Jones agreed with Mr Rousseau, saying that to implement recommendations of an independent report commissioned from Auckland University, significant planning work was needed.
Committee member Kaye Crowther was unconvinced by the suggestion the DHB should narrow its focus, saying that even if money was not available to implement changes, it was good to know how well services were performing.
