Time for some DHB board members to go
As fallout from the Murray scandal settled over Waikato the board maintained a cynical cone of silence.
Clearly it was too much to expect our elected health board representatives to be open and transparent in a time of crisis, to have fortitude and moral fibre.
But they are nothing if not consistent.
The last time the DHB was embroiled in a big s**t hitting the fan moment was 2014.
Let’s be kind and not count a drunk doctor, a fake psychiatrist, financing the Chiefs or lapses at Henry Bennett.
The last big crisis involved a damning report into the DHB’s executive leadership, culture and to summarise – general dysfunction.
At the time Bob Simcock told a Waikato Times’ reporter that ‘‘the board speak through me’’.
Sadly, history repeats with acting board chair Sally Webb adopting the same position.
It is a reprehensible and cynical ploy to muzzle board members at a time when a sterilising burn of truth is sorely needed.
At times like this one wonders why we have a democratically elected board and whether democracy should not instead be paused in favour of a band of capable civil servants with KPIs to meet.
It is useful to view the staggering incompetence of the board and former chair, Bob Simcock, through the corporate lens of a performance appraisal.
Sally Christie, Tania Hodges, and Pippa Mahood were on a panel overseeing the recruitment of a new chief executive in 2014.
Together with Martin Gallagher the coterie also served on the board that delivered the 2014 management fiasco. How, then, have they done?
They certainly have not exceeded expectations, nor met them. If they don’t have the decency to resign immediately then voters should show them the door at the next election.
It’s time to go guys, so do the decent thing.