DHB silent on complaints

A Waikato DHB member was the subject of three complaints in the space of two months.

All the complaints relate to the board member’s behaviour toward staff. But the DHB is refusing to name the member in question, citing privacy concerns. And its stance is being backed by the board’s acting chair, who says nothing would be achieved by naming the offending board member.

Material released to the Waikato Times under the Official Information Act reveals three complaints have been made against board members this term.

All the complaints relate to a single board member and were filed in January and February 2017. Each complaint was forwarded to then Waikato DHB chairman Bob Simcock, who sought legal advice. The outcomes of the complaints have not been disclosed and health board staff have declined to discuss the matter.

Waikato DHB acting chair Sally Webb said it was appropriate not to name board members who were the subject of complaints.

‘‘I think people are entitled to have their privacy respected and I don’t see any public good in naming the person,’’ Webb said.

Her focus was getting board members working together as a team ‘‘rather than looking back’’.

The Waikato DHB came under fire in 2017 over the handling of its investigation into disgraced health boss Nigel Murray, with its own board members saying the DHB needed to be more transparent.

Murray resigned as Waikato DHB chief executive on October 5 following a two-anda-half-month investigation which found evidence he had misspent health dollars.

Health board data shows 161 complaints were made against staff by colleagues between January 2016 and September 2017. The complaints include allegations of bullying and harassment, assault, uncivil or unprofessional behaviour, and unauthorised contact with patients.

In 2017, the Waikato DHB launched an urgent probe into claims of bullying of young doctors by senior colleagues. The allegations were contained in a damning report by the Medical Council of New Zealand, with claims bullying and harassment were underreported by intern doctors.

The report said instances of bullying may not be reported by young doctors because of concerns about confidentiality and potential repercussions.

In response, the DHB launched an independent review into bullying in its general medicine department. The findings of the DHB’s probe are expected to be released in January, but board member Clyde Wade said the allegations contained in the medical council’s report were short on specifics.

‘‘Unless somebody is prepared to identify who it is that’s doing the bullying, then it’s hopeless,’’ Wade said. ‘‘We’ve got 7000 employees, so some sort of nonspecific complaint about bullying, from the point of view of the organisation being able to do anything about it, is completely useless.’’

The Waikato DHB’s director of people and performance, Greg Peploe, said the health board had robust processes in place if a staffer wanted to make a complaint against a coworker.

Peploe said the DHB provided a safe working environment, but acknowledged some staff might not report bullying because of concerns over the consequences.

‘‘I would accept there is a likelihood of people not reporting issues due to concerns about victimisation. Are those concerns legitimate? Probably not, but that doesn’t mean that person doesn’t genuinely believe that.’’

Between January 2016 and September 2017, the health board received 297 complaints about staff from members of the public. Of that total, 183 were lodged in 2016. Complaints included concerns about staff attitude and behaviour, treatment provided, staff competency and communication.

Peploe said it was heartening to note the rate of complaints had declined in

2017.

‘‘We also have to put that figure in context, with the total number of interactions between Waikato DHB staff and patients and members of the public in the hundreds of thousands each year,’’ he said.

‘‘2017 has been a difficult year, not just in terms of obviously the publicity, but the hospital has been running at close to capacity. It’s pleasing to see in an organisation under stress, which we have been, we haven’t seen complaints go up.’’