Praise for ODT’s health board stand

I released my inner Braveheart on Tuesday. Reading the ODT over my morning porridge, I punched the air in support of Barry Stewart’s defiant response to SDHB chief executive, Chris Fleming.

A public servant’s attempt at media management, by wishing to discuss ‘‘the style and approach of the newspaper’s health reporting’’ is quite chilling. Time and again, Eileen Goodwin has shone a light on issues of public interest which the SDHB has tried hard to keep hidden. Frequent Official Information requests and appeals to the Ombudsman would not have been necessary if our publiclyfunded health officials were more accountable.

One must also wonder why Mr Fleming is dealing with this issue. Didn’t the SDHB engage Nicola Mutch as its ‘‘communications expert’’ in 2016, on a sixfigure salary?

Several recent events have emphasised the need for outlets such as the ODT to continue calling power to account. SDHB Commissioner Kathy Grant was rapped over the knuckles by Audit NZ for the lack of proper disclosure of her interests. Canterbury and South Canterbury DHB chairman, Murray Cleverley, has been stood down as a result of questions around conflicts of interest. This is someone who said that a health board was ‘‘like a board of directors, not answerable to the people but to the shareholder, the Ministry of Health’’. Andrew Blair, chairman of the Dunedin Hospital Rebuild group, is now also chairman of two Wellington DHBs, raising questions about how one person can do three such important jobs adequately.

The recent Ministry of Health tables rating DHBs show Southern lingering near the bottom in 2/3 of the results. Elective surgery continues to be an ongoing problem and a new hospital seems no nearer becoming a reality.

In conclusion, maybe Mr Fleming should spend less time trying to stem the flow of SDHB information reaching the public and instead concern himself with the flow of water which pours down operating theatre walls when it rains.

N. Wilson Roslyn [Abridged]

HOW sinister it is to read that the SDHB CEO is to talk to the ODT’s editor about the style and approach of its health reporting (ODT, 21.2.17). Let us hope Chris Fleming doesn’t spin his way into politics in a quest to follow in the footsteps of Trump, Putin, Xi, Erdogan et al.

Vicky Carthew

Dunedin