Monday 12 July 2010

The Editor

Greymouth Star

Dear Editor

John Ayling's straw-splitting about the location of PHOcus' head office (Letters,  2 June) evades the obvious point I was making which is that yet again, Coasters' health services are being excessively influenced by people based elsewhere. How would Mr. Ayling's Motueka community feel if their PHO was chaired by someone from elsewhere in New Zealand and with a CEO based in the North Island?

Mr. Ayling should tell the public just how much time the PHO CEO actually spends on the Coast.

Mr. Ayling's response contains no specific reference to my contention that it is a conflict of interests for a consultant to a PHO to also be the CEO of that PHO. The consensus amongst my contacts around the New Zealand health scene who are aware of this situation is similar to mine. To quote one of them, "Ït gets more disgusting by the minute .... self-serving bureaucrats".

As for Mr. Ayling's contention that the PHO/PHOcus engagement was, "ärrived at via a transparent, fully contestable process", after nearly two decades of involvement in health issues I had to laugh. "Transparent"? To whom? Such mis-use of language has typified health mismanagement since the so-called "reforms" were launched in the early 1990s and in which Mr. Ayling played a prominent part as CEO of the Otago DHB during their dismantling of Otago's rural hospital network.

The question remains; why are the Coast's health services so extensively in absentee hands?

David Tranter

Health spokesman

N.Z. Democrats for Social Credit