4 July 2012

The health statistics questions Zed Seselja would like a Royal Commission to answer

| johnboy
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Liberal leader Zed Seselja is not letting go of the stinking health statistics bone.

“Serious allegations have also been made that results were fabricated to meet Katy Gallagher’s expectations.

“Clearly, these issues have not been rectified and only way to clear the stench that surrounds this scandal is through the powers of a Royal Commission.

“A Royal Commission could also answer questions which Canberrans deserve answers to, including:

— How many people fabricated performance results and are those people in senior executive positions in the hospital?
— Is it true that the individual who confessed to fabrication did so because out of fear and is there a broader cultural breakdown at the hospital?
— Was pressure applied to staff to meet commitments made to Katy Gallagher?
— What other performance results may have been fabricated across Health?
— How did such dysfunctional hospital administration occur and who is responsible?
— How and by who was the senior executive?s name leaked?
— Did the fabrication of emergency department performance lead to any negative outcomes for patients?
— What is the true extent of the deterioration in ED performance over the past decade?

[For those who missed it the Canberra Times explains the leaking of Kate Jackson’s name as a the senior executive going to the wall for this.]

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Copy of an e-mail to young Zed, which covers the comments I’d make on this…

Dear Mr Seselja,

It is disappointing, though admittedly predictable, that our elected
representatives in the ACT are wasting so much time over the recently
publicly reported Emergency Department data manipulation problem.

Whilst I appreciate that an important part of your job is, quite
rightly, to hold the government accountable for poor performance and
oversights, I think sometimes politicians need a gentle reminder that
your primary role is to actually do what we elected you to do… make
policy and decisions that are in the best interests of the people of
Canberra.

After reading your recent call for a Royal Commission into the health
department statistics issue, I can’t help but feel now is one of those
times.

I would urge you to consider re-allocating your time in such a manner
that actually _doing_ something about the causes of Emergency
Department and whole-hospital dysfunction occupies the majority of
your efforts, rather than vapid political point-scoring leading up to
an election.

Your job is to effectively administer the ACT, not to make “the other
team” look bad.

We need a better-functioning health care system, not blame-apportioning.

Kate Jackson, huh? Well, Farrah Fawcett’s in no shape to bail her out, but surely Jaclyn Smith and/or Cheryl Ladd will be along to effect a rescue in no time flat.

I think we need a Royal Commission into who proofs his releases also.

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