6. Hon TONY RYALL (National—Bay of Plenty) Link to this
to the Minister of Health
Which clinicians at the Hawke’s Bay District Health Board have told him that there are “continuing apparent tensions within the present board and its clinicians”?
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE (Minister of Health) Link to this
My primary responsibility is for the overall health and well-being of the people of Hawke’s Bay. I have received correspondence from a number of clinicians concerning Hawke’s Bay District Health Board, and from others. However, I am not prepared to breach the confidence of the persons who provided me with necessary information without their consent, at this time. There are clearly tensions within the present board. Information on this has also been widely reported in the media.
Is it not the case that the Minister will not detail the people who gave him this false information because he is joining the whitewash to protect his colleague Annette King; or did he just make it up?
Lesley SoperHas the Minister any information on the financial position of the Hawke’s Bay District Health Board?
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE Link to this
A great deal. I am concerned and disturbed by the apparent trends. In July last year the forward projection from the district health board was that at the end of this financial year the fiscal outcome would be in balance. The most recent projection for this outcome is now for a deficit of $7.7 million. To correct this clearly requires a united and fully functioning governance structure, management, and clinical team.
Barbara StewartDoes the Minister consider that working on a “day-to-day basis” is in the best interests of either the patients or the staff of the district health board; if not, why is the appointment of a chairman being delayed indefinitely?
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE Link to this
As the member may be aware, there is a governance review process under way, and I do not mind saying to the House that I had expected to receive that report from the director-general at an earlier time. I am advised that there have been significant delays in that process for legal reasons, and with the recent deterioration of the situation the member may have a point.
Chris TremainHow can the New Zealand health community trust the Minister when Dr David Lawson, a senior surgeon at the Hawke’s Bay District Health Board said: “Mr Cunliffe implied that the clinical staff at HB Hospital were unhappy with the board …”, and “This could not be further from the truth.”; I ask the Minister what game he is playing, and what the reason is for trying to drive a wedge between the board and senior management staff?
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE Link to this
The good doctor may wish to consult some of his senior clinical colleagues, who have written and spoken to me in completely the opposite direction.
Is it true that the chair of the district health board was quoted in this morning’s Dominion Post as saying the Minister “is trying to set the scene to bag the district health board.”?
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE Link to this
Apparently so. Such reported press statements are, of course, not the normal way in which district health board chairs communicate with their Minister. It is perhaps indicative of the tensions I alluded to earlier, and I expect not to see this style of communication repeated.
Craig FossHow can the health community trust the Minister, when the chairman of the senior medical staff at the Hawke’s Bay Hospital, John Rose, said the Minister’s statements “took me … by surprise. We’re not aware of any tension between the senior clinicians and our board. It would appear this statement is completely unfounded.”?
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE Link to this
The gentleman concerned has clearly not consulted his colleagues thoroughly, many of whom have consulted me.
Heather RoyOn what date will the Minister announce his appointees to the Hawke’s Bay District Health Board and allow it to form the required committees to plan and to provide some certainty to its staff and the Hawke’s Bay public, or does he intend to leave it vulnerable and set up to fail, as part of a deliberate campaign to discredit the board and its chair?
Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE Link to this
In respect of the last part of the question, no, and I take exception to the implication. In respect of the first part of the question, as soon as is practicably possible, consistent with due legal process.
Is not what is happening here typical of Labour—driving an imaginary division between the clinicians and the board as the start of the whitewash to protect Annette King and scapegoat the Hawke’s Bay District Health Board?
I seek leave to table the article in this morning’s Dominion Post, which says “Surgeons dismiss—
Madam SPEAKER