Auditor General delivers report on health sector contracts

Auditor General Denise Hanrahan delivered a performance audit report to the House of Assembly on health sector contracts phase one – nursing agency contracts.

The report contains findings and recommendations regarding Newfoundland and Labrador Health Service’s inability to effectively procure and manage agency nursing contracts worth over $240 million; how the health authority failed to ensure value for money; as well as details on how the authority failed to adequately plan for agency nursing usage.

By March of this year, the average agency nurse will cost taxpayers over $400,000 annually.

The audit found that invoice payment processes and conflict of interest protections were seriously flawed. For example, the audit identified almost $4 million worth of potential overpayments, from a small sample of seven per cent of invoices paid over two and a half years.