Waikato DHB 3

Recent reporting in the Waikato Times (October 3) on the subject of Waikato District Health Board multimilliondollar spending on ‘‘virtual health’’, leaves me wondering as to who is telling the truth and who is suffering from the now all too common memory loss experienced by people in high places!

The report tells us that the board,at its July 2015 meeting, agreed to purchase the virtual health app at a cost of some $8 million despite the absence of a completed business case.

The report tells us: ‘‘Former board member Andrew Buckley who attended the July 2015 meeting said the project was sold to the board by chairman Bob Simcock.’’

If the allegation that no completed business case was available to support a decision to spend some $8m was correct, one would have expected Simcock to caution the board against the purchase until a completed business case was made available to all board members.

The report also states: ‘‘In reply, Simcock said he could not recall the July 2015 meeting.’’ Really?

Would I have a measure of confidence in a chairman who attended a meeting at which a decision was made to purchase a completely new venture at a cost of some $8m and who some two years later made the claim that he could not recall that meeting? I don’t think so!

J. Dekker Hamilton

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