28 May NSW alcohol and other drugs sector service costing study
On behalf of its members, NADA engaged HealthConsult to undertake a costing study to frame discussions with the NSW Ministry of Health around the cost of non-government organisation (NGO) service delivery in the alcohol and other drugs sector.
Working with senior and experienced staff at NGO sites across metro and regional NSW, HealthConsult first developed, validated and then refined consistent activity based costing (ABC) models for each provider. HealthConsult teased out specific issues that had a significant impact on service delivery and in turn, operating costs. The issues were grouped thematically and synthesised into number of common complexity factors (CCFs). From these CCFs, HealthConsult developed a complexity framework allowing many more providers to provide input to the study by considering the CCFs’ impact on service delivery without needing to refer to a corresponding cost model. The CCFs were tested with multiple providers via a three round Delphi process to converge the expert judgement of service providers to set realistic values for each CCF.
The results of the study were used to help facilitate discussions with funders about converging funding streams into a single NGO alcohol and other drugs funding stream with clearly articulated activity based underpinnings.