Tremain Chris: General Debate 
Tremain Chris: General Debate 
[Volume:675;Page:14407] 
CHRIS TREMAIN (National—Napier) 
: 
 Last week the Minister of Health issued a press release that said the Minister was keeping a close eye on the Hawke’s Bay District Health Board because he was concerned about several things including continuing apparent tensions with the present board and its clinicians. I put it to members today that this press release was a total smokescreen to try to redirect the public’s attention away from the mess that this Government has got itself into by mistakenly appointing to the board an outside director who is now the subject of a review about conflicts of interest. 
Let us go through the details of this mess. Firstly the Minister of Health appointed a Wellington-based independent director to sort out the Hawke’s Bay District Board. The board had apparently bucked the trend by not simply saying “Yes Minister” on a range of issues important to the district health board. Secondly following that director’s appointment that outside director’s company Healthcare New Zealand was the recipient of an initial small million-dollar contract with the Hawke’s Bay District Health Board. The company was made preferred bidder in a multimillion-dollar contract that was subsequently withdrawn. Thirdly a whistleblower revealed that documents regarding the terms of reference for the contract on the withdrawn bid had been emailed back and forth between various recipients with accusations that the terms of reference had been changed in an attempt to favour the bidder. 
Fourthly the serious accusations of conflicts of interest are the subject of a review that is currently being conducted by the Ministry of Health. Lastly there is an underlying matter that necessitates total transparency and the exposure of all relevant details uncovered in this investigation. The husband of the then Minister of Health who was chief operating officer at the district health board at the time of the Healthcare New Zealand negotiations is now an employee with that company. So why do I suggest that the accusations of discontent at the district health board between the board and the senior medical staff are a smokescreen? 
Chris Auchinvole 
: Why? 
CHRIS TREMAIN 
: Quite simply because it is untrue. Firstly it implies that the whole board has a breakdown in its relationship with the senior medical staff. That is simply incorrect. By making these accusations the Minister accuses two board members who are themselves senior medical staff both of whom have a pedigree that is hard to beat in New Zealand. David Barry and David Davidson are two board members who between them have over 70 years’ experience and service. David Barry set up the paediatric service at the Hawke’s Bay Hospital. He has an international reputation in asthma research. He is a man who is respected by his colleagues and he has the utmost integrity. David Davidson was the Hawke’s Bay’s first specialist obstetrician. He was a pioneer and is totally respected by all medical professionals in Hawke’s Bay. The board has full faith in him. 
The second reason that this is a smokescreen is that the fact is there is no breakdown no apparent tension and no discontent between the board and the senior medical staff. I personally rang around a significant number of senior consultants on Sunday evening and spoke to them. My research indicates that there is virtually unanimous support for the board not ongoing tension. In fact a number of consultants believe that the relationship they have with the board is one of the best in the country. Once specialist David Lawson said: “This is the best board we have had in 15 years. Our department had made huge progress in recent years with waiting lists reduced from 800 to 100.” He said that this was hardly a sign of a malfunctioning board. John Rose chairman of the senior medical staff told me that at present there are no issues simmering or ongoing between medical staff and the board. There will be a meeting in which these staff will get together and make sure that the message is clear. 
I challenge the health Minister to call a range of senior medical staff—which he has failed to do until now—as I have to ensure that next time he accuses the board of having a breakdown with senior doctors he gets his facts right. As my colleague Craig Foss said these accusations about the relationship between the board and senior medical staff are a pathetic attempt at diverting the public’s attention from the relationship between the Government and the board. So why has Minister Cunliffe done this? In short he wants to get rid of the board. He wants to drive a wedge between the board and the Hawke’s Bay public by falsely accusing them of a bad relationship with senior medical staff.