It was me, says DHB member

Dave Macpherson has identified himself as the Waikato DHB member subject to three complaints in two months.

One of the complaints was made by former chief executive Nigel Murray.

After Stuff revealed three complaints had been made against a board member this term, the Waikato DHB refused to name the member in question. But Macpherson said he needed to be transparent and outed himself.

‘‘I’d rather the others not get blamed. It’s nothing to do with them,’’ Macpherson said. ‘‘I know it’s had three complaints about me, one of them being [by] Nigel Murray, the other two being other senior executives.’’

He hopes the complaints – still outstanding – are resolved soon. Macpherson said he received a legal letter by Waikato DHB acting chairwoman Sally Webb warning him not to reveal the complainants’ identities. But he didn’t mind identifying Murray.

Webb wouldn’t identify any of the complainants.

‘‘If we don’t have a culture where staff, board members or patients can openly complain and have those complaints treated with privacy and dignity, then we get a culture where people just don’t complain and things don’t change.

‘‘I emailed Dave and asked him to please be careful and respect the privacy of people as that was the way we like to handle complaints. I guess you could say that’s me cautioning him.’’

Macpherson said all three complaints were a result to his criticism of the DHB’s handling of his son’s death. He sent a strongly worded email to staff members after information about the death was released publicly.

‘‘I think I used strong language, but not personal abuse. I thought I had made it deliberately clear that I wasn’t speaking as a board member at the time.

‘‘[The emails] don’t relate to my work as a board member, they relate to my comments as a father.’’