Manitoba's premier expects front line health care services will improve as a result of a sweeping mandate given to health agencies and authorities throughout Manitoba to slash 15 per cent of their management positions.

The province's regional health authorities, Diagnostic Services Manitoba, CancerCare Manitoba and the Addictions Foundation of Manitoba are under orders to cut the positions as part of their respective budgets for 2017-18.

Brian Pallister says the province is simply looking for ways to eliminate duplication and redundancy in an effort to cut costs and create a better health system in Manitoba.

"Just for example, our RHAs have gotten very, very big over the last number of years, at the top of the organizations, and have not gotten particularly better at delivering services at the front line. And, that's not a knock on any of the people in those RHAs, it's just the reality. When you have a monopoly, the monopoly delivery system tends to get bigger and administratively heavy and cost more."

Pallister says spending more money on health care in recent years has not led to better care. For example he says wait times are longer for emergency services, test results and things like knee and hip replacement despite have more money directed toward them. He also notes there are far too many union bargaining units. Pallister says provinces like Saskatchewan, Alberta and B.C. have fewer than 20 bargaining units while the Winnipeg RHA alone has more than 170 bargaining units.

"What that means is, of course, that we spend a whole bunch of money on bargaining when we should be spending our resources on getting better services to the patient."