❓ Mr L'Estrange questions the Minister for Health regarding resignations from the North Metropolitan Health Service Board following Corruption and Crime Commission findings. The Minister admits to wanting a leadership renewal due to budget management concerns.
AnsweredQoN 627Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
NORTH METROPOLITAN
HEALTH SERVICE BOARD — MEMBERSHIP — RESIGNATION LETTERS
627. Mr S.K. L'ESTRANGE to the Minister for Health:
This relates to the Corruption and
Crime Commission's findings and governance issues at the North
Metropolitan Health Service, in particular the resignation of six board members
this year.
(1) One of the letters said —
I refer to email correspondence
received from, and a subsequent telephone conversation with, your Chief of
Staff on 12 June 2018. It is my understanding the in-coming Chair of the North
Metropolitan Health Service � Board wishes to have an entirely new board appointed
from 1 July.
Were board members coerced to resign?
(2) Another
letter said —
� the lack of transparency and
provision of information to the Board has made it difficult for the Board to
function �
Is there a lack of transparency in
how the North Metropolitan Health Service is being governed?
HEALTH SERVICE BOARD — MEMBERSHIP — RESIGNATION LETTERS
627. Mr S.K. L'ESTRANGE to the Minister for Health:
This relates to the Corruption and
Crime Commission's findings and governance issues at the North
Metropolitan Health Service, in particular the resignation of six board members
this year.
(1) One of the letters said —
I refer to email correspondence
received from, and a subsequent telephone conversation with, your Chief of
Staff on 12 June 2018. It is my understanding the in-coming Chair of the North
Metropolitan Health Service � Board wishes to have an entirely new board appointed
from 1 July.
Were board members coerced to resign?
(2) Another
letter said —
� the lack of transparency and
provision of information to the Board has made it difficult for the Board to
function �
Is there a lack of transparency in
how the North Metropolitan Health Service is being governed?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for the question.
(1) No, the
incoming chair at the North Metropolitan Health Service did not request a renewal
or refresh of the board; I did. I made it quite clear that I was not happy with
the performance of the board. The North Metropolitan
Health Service is the biggest of our health service providers and when it
sneezes, the rest of the health system catches a cold. In this case, the cold
was around budget management. I was not happy with the performance of the north
metropolitan health services in the way that they were functioning. In
particular, I thought we needed to perform better in terms of the corrections I
needed to see in the overall budget of the health system. Other health service
providers are doing very well. East metropolitan health services have
completely retrieved their financial situation. The south metropolitan health
services, despite all the issues they had at Fiona Stanley Hospital, have
retrieved the situation. North metro had not, so I wanted to see renewal of the
leadership there and I made that quite clear.
(2) The second point the member made was around
transparency. Clearly, some of those board members, or one in particular, was
unhappy with the way that board was operating and maybe shared my concerns. The
fact of the matter is that I thought we needed to take control of the situation
and I acted accordingly.
(1) No, the
incoming chair at the North Metropolitan Health Service did not request a renewal
or refresh of the board; I did. I made it quite clear that I was not happy with
the performance of the board. The North Metropolitan
Health Service is the biggest of our health service providers and when it
sneezes, the rest of the health system catches a cold. In this case, the cold
was around budget management. I was not happy with the performance of the north
metropolitan health services in the way that they were functioning. In
particular, I thought we needed to perform better in terms of the corrections I
needed to see in the overall budget of the health system. Other health service
providers are doing very well. East metropolitan health services have
completely retrieved their financial situation. The south metropolitan health
services, despite all the issues they had at Fiona Stanley Hospital, have
retrieved the situation. North metro had not, so I wanted to see renewal of the
leadership there and I made that quite clear.
(2) The second point the member made was around
transparency. Clearly, some of those board members, or one in particular, was
unhappy with the way that board was operating and maybe shared my concerns. The
fact of the matter is that I thought we needed to take control of the situation
and I acted accordingly.
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