8. Hon TONY RYALL (National—Bay of Plenty) Link to this
to the Minister of Health
Was the Hawke’s Bay District Health Board’s $1.1 million caregiver training contract with Wellcare, a subsidiary of Healthcare New Zealand, publicly tendered; if not, why not?
Hon PETE HODGSON (Minister of Health) Link to this
No, the district health board did not tender for that contract. The reason, as I understand it, is that the contract was first initiated by the Ministry of Social Development, and the Hawke’s Bay District Health Board then joined the contract.
Is it really believable that a department putting $72,000 into a contract has all the say over a district health board putting over $1.1 million into the contract, and is it not so that the Ministry of Social Development has confirmed publicly that the Hawke’s Bay District Health Board was consulted in the selection of that provider?
It may well have been; I would not know. I am not responsible for the Ministry of Social Development, and I am not a member of the Hawke’s Bay District Health Board. But the fact remains that the Hawke’s Bay District Health Board joined the contract after it had been first let. Why did the Hawke’s Bay District Health Board put in $1.1 million? Well, because the deal was that it was to employ those people for 2 years, and most of that money has gone on wages.
Russell Fairbrother Link to this
Is the caregiver training contract regarded as being successful; if so, how is success measured?
The Ministry of Social Development certainly thinks so. It is on record as stating that it has been an excellent pilot, so much so that it is trying it elsewhere in New Zealand.
Can the Minister confirm that Mr Hausmann, the principal contractor in this case, and a member of the Hawke’s Bay District Health Board, did not declare an interest in Wellcare Education when Annette King appointed him in 2005; and in light of this information, how can the Minister justify his advice to the House that Mr Hausmann made full disclosure when Annette King appointed him in 2005?
As I stand here I have no knowledge as to whether Wellcare existed in 2005. But I will say that this is all part of the continuing innuendo against Mr Hausmann that occasioned him to write to me some weeks ago asking me to please review afresh his management of conflict of interest, even though it has been done before. I have agreed to examine the management of his conflict of interest afresh, and that review is under way now.
So is it acceptable under this Labour Government that a district health board can enter into a $1 million - plus contract with one of its own board members, without having a public tender process, with no consultation with the board, and with that same board member declaring that interest only a few days before the contract was signed?
The member asks the wrong Minister. I will just say again that Wellcare Education was approached by the Ministry of Social Development, not the district health board. I am sure that people consulted with one another.
Hon Bill EnglishIs the Minister aware that the person who presented the contract to Healthcare New Zealand, Wellcare, to sign was in fact a Hawke’s Bay District Health Board employee, and that that employee first discussed skills and training in the sector with Mr Hausmann, following an invitation to have that meeting with him after a district health board meeting in the Hawke’s Bay?
My best guess is that the only reason the member is able to ask that question is that all of the information around it has been put into the public arena. But what is more, there is now an independent review of the management of the conflict of interest issues surrounding Mr Hausmann, which was originally sought by Mr Hausmann. It will be looking at all of that data in the cold light of day to see whether the management was accurate.
I seek leave to table a document detailing meetings and activity pre-contract for the Ministry of Social Development and that district health board from what appears to be Healthcare New Zealand.
I seek leave to table a chronology of events on 29 May 2006 from the Hawke’s Bay District Health Board.