Health board’s rules are of no use to voters

It’s interesting to be told by Midcentral District Health Board chairwoman Dot Mckinnon that communication rules are not about control.

They are not about censorship and not about punishing dissidents, according to the board. They are about ‘‘courtesy’’, striking a balance between a responsible approach to running the organisation and allowing individual freedom of expression.

It’s heartening that two board members dared to question this during discussions about media protocols and a code of conduct for board members.

If board members want to air some views to media, they have to tell Mckinnon. If a member issues a press statement, they have to forward it to other members.

The board can treat its members as adolescents if it thinks this is the best way to influence the public narrative. In justifying this, it need not insult everybody’s intelligence, however. Managing communication is plainly about control to some extent.

None of us should pretend any of this is about democracy.

Health boards serve as an intermediary between the Government and the people. Representatives of the people are seen to have input into local health decision-making. This is more for show than for democracy.

In that respect, the board’s commitment to collective responsibility is noteworthy.

Presenting a collective viewpoint is fraught with difficulty. It is everybody’s opinion and nobody’s opinion.

It can be useful if someone is somehow able to sum up the consensus of viewpoints or the mood of a meeting. What mustn’t be forgotten is that this may be beneficial to the institution, but it’s of no use to voters.

If board members are discouraged from saying what they think, it’s hard for voters to make informed decisions. The interests of democracy are served through airing a plurality of opinions.

The Government doesn’t entirely trust the democratic process to run healthcare, which is why it helps along decisionmaking with its own appointments to health boards.

Board members become even less relevant to the community if they generally toe the party line.

Midcentral DHB is entitled to manage its messaging. It should be acknowledged, however, there is a risk of communication becoming so careful and calculated that it turns into a charade.

Fortunately, the media is not obliged to play along.