Many will have heard mainstream or social media chatter in the last few months about the ripoffs and rorts perpetrated by the rather unsavoury Nigel Murray, now former CEO of the Waikato DHB.
Murray spent three years upending the DHB’s organisational structure, pissing off the junior and senior doctors, and most union members in the organisation, minus the 15 months wasted gallivanting around the globe away from his job – at the cost to the taxpayer of $218,000. Given that this figure was on top of an almost $560,000 annual salary, the public have been justifiably angry at his profligacy.
Although Murray leapt off the cliff before he was pushed, in order to hide the full nature of his spending, it didn’t stop public airing of his $799 a night hotel rooms, his ‘accommodation’ of two mistresses on the public purse, or his non-attendance at international conferences the NZ health dollar funded him heavily to attend. Commendably, NZ Herald journo Natalie Akoorie has played a large and sustained part in airing Murray’s antics, unlike the local daily Waikato Times, which has been a combination of asleep at the wheel and rather too closely allied to DHB management.
Many projects under Murray have had dramatic cost blowouts, including a downtown Hamilton office block refurbishment, with no proper business case approved by the DHB Board, that leapt from $7.7M cost to $14.7M; and a ‘virtual’ or digital healthcare platform that appears to have doubled its original $8M estimate and more than halved its uptake at the same time.
How did all this happen, you ask? Where was the oversight? What was the Board doing (if anything)?
The answer lies in part with the political structure set up to govern each Board; every Board has four of its 11 members chosen by the Minister of Health, including the Chairs and Deputy Chairs. Only seven are elected on each Board.
DHB Boards are not set up to actually make any real decisions on the health spend in their areas; Health Ministers, through the Health Ministry, allocate almost all of a DHB’s Revenue, and mandate how much of it is to go into each area (eg GP’s/Primary healthcare, tertiary healthcare at the big hospitals, etc.). The Ministry sets targets for operations and procedures in every area, and there is very little room to move for local communities.
DHB Boards can only tinker round the edges of these targets and expenditure areas, and are essentially there as a piece of ‘democratic window-dressing’. The Government appoints men and women to the key positions that will be ‘safe pairs of hands’, who won’t rock the boat and will do the Government’s bidding. Having said that, some are more competent than others, and this is where the Waikato DHB story has a little more light shone on it than others.
For the Waikato DHB, the National Government appointed former senior National MP Bob Simcock as Chair of the Board some years ago. Simcock – once known as ‘Jenny Shipley’s bag-man’ when Shipley rolled PM Jim Bolger – had also been Mayor of Hamilton during the V8 debacle and massive overspend, and has been appointed to various company boards and other bodies – a true member of the local Nats’ old boys network.
In 2014, Simcock was instrumental in the Waikato DHB appointing the aforesaid Murray, who had previously been CEO at Southland DHB, leaving there under a cloud to take up the CEO post at Fraser Health, a large Canadian DHB-equivalent, before also leaving there under a cloud to come back to New Zealand. In Invercargill, Murray was outed as already working for Fraser Health before he left Southland DHB, while in Canada, he racked up $140,000 in expenses in just two years, and his organisation was under investigation when he left early to come to Hamilton.
Knowing of his dodgy history, both the senior doctors’ organisation and former Labour MP Sue Moroney personally and directly warned Simcock of the dangers in appointing Murray – before the appointment was made. Simcock claims Murray’s references were checked, but Blind Freddy could see the train wreck coming down the line – only Simcock and his Board couldn’t.
To make matters worse, Simcock – who, as in all DHB’s and most companies, is required to sign off all the CEO’s expenses, travel and conference attendance – failed to approve more than a small proportion of Murray’s expenses in advance of them happening, despite all the warnings about the guy. In one case Murray stayed in a private hotel in Hamilton for six months after arriving here (allegedly with someone who wasn’t his wife) when the normal period is one month maximum.
Every year, each DHB CEO is required to file an expenses return with the State Services Commission, which is a good monitoring tool – only Murray didn’t file one for either of the first two years, and Simcock, responsible for oversight of this, not only didn’t check this out, when he eventually found out six months later, he kept news of this from his fellow Board members for almost another six months.
The whole sordid tale of ripoffs and lack of governance is coming to light through legal and Audit NZ investigations, and another SSC investigation just starting.
But, from the public viewpoint we’ve had a rip-off artist as a CEO, and a Government-appointed Board Chair who didn’t have a clue what was going on, or if he did was too slack to do anything about it – BUT, has refused to fall on his sword, despite at least two Board members refusing to express confidence in him, as well as doctors’ organisations and many members of the public calling for him to go.
The real problem, is that Simcock’s refusal to clear out won’t allow those remaining to start looking forward, and to refocus on the healthcare needs of the region. There is a real risk that the Government could take the easy way out and sack the entire Board, in order to lance the boil, ensuring those within the Board who are trying to sort this mess out will go along with those complicit in creating the mess.
Dave Macpherson is TDB’s mental health blogger. He became a Waikato DHB member after his son died from mental health incompetence.
So a new Health Minister and a new broom…is Simcock awaiting the inevitable axing out of stupidity or need I wonder…
Think the words “minister of health appoints the chairman and deputy chair of the board” will have some looking for an exit plan.
Have faith in the new minister Dave.Make th eeffort to meet him personally. I reckon given the best information he will make the right decision.
Shona,
Are you just taking the piss here, or are you really serious?
The Ministry of Health is corrupt so are the DHB’s as I know this very personally.
I am disabled also with ‘chemical poisoning’ from a workplace accidental long term exposure, now for 25yrs, and the Ministry of Health and the DHB’s have done nothing for this patient with chemical poisoning, other than preventing any ‘alternative treatment’ to what?
They have abolutely no treatment protocols for a patient or worker suffering from ‘chemical poisoning.’
Even the letter i recieved from the Ministry of Health ‘disabilities commissioner admitted they have no treatments for chemical opoisoning so how can we or anyone trust the MoH or any DHB who are controlled by the useless MoH?
Funny though, when I came home to die with this in 1998 the ACC nurses had some supportive documents they gave me on this illness but could not offer any treatments then either, so 19yrs later I am not far from death and no body can treat a chemically poisoned patient even now.
So much for the brighter future; – this is not.
I’m sorry to hear about your situation, and I don’t know what DHB you’re under (geographically-speaking) but I’m not taking the piss by explaining how the structure side of things works. If you’re in the Waikato DHB area, let me know.
I would love to meet with him, and have sent that message. Hope he agrees, but have yet to hear anything.
All this mess was part of our brighter future and billshits transparency case re- our newly formed governments negotiation papers being made available is just more bull from bill
So where was the former Minister of Health, “Dr” Jonathan Coleman while all this was going on??? He seems strangely quiet on this issue.
I wonder if Simcock’s refusal to go has anything to with the payout he’ll receive when he leaves. I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets not much or nothing if he resigns of his own accord, but there’s a very generous ‘golden parachute’ written into his contract if the Minister of Health sacks him.
Actually, Board members, including Chairs, get nothing when they leave, no matter what the cause. They are not actually ‘employees’ in the legal sense of the word.
Its only MPs that can get payouts when they leave (and even that’s not automatic now).
I see, I didn’t know that. Any idea why was Simcock so keen to hang on then? Was it reputational? It seemed like he was on a hiding to nothing whatever he did.
Normally it would beggar belief that Simcock has not already resigned given his lack of oversight as DHB chair of the CEO’s spending but it shows how low this country has been dragged by Key especially and English.
Nowadays public figures just brazenly ride out scandals with little or no accountability.
Normally it would beggar belief that Simcock has not already resigned given his lack of oversight as DHB chair of the CEO’s spending but it shows how low this country has been dragged by Key especially and English.
Nowadays public figures just brazenly ride out scandals with little or no accountability.
This whole thing smacks of a National old boys network club and A typical of an ex or current National minister, take no responsibility whatsoever. The WDHB has been bursting at the the seams under the edict of “do more with less” mantra for a number of years now under Coleman and Simcock must be held accountable for his role in this whole debacle.
And agreed Dave, where the hell is the Waikato Times on this, still writing anti-Labour opinion columns?
But how can this be?!
National – wise and prudent financial stewards. The People Who Know how large businesses must be run. The Guardians of the Taxpayer Dollars.
They are! Except when they’re not. Which is most of the time.
Labour started this wrecking of the Public Service ‘way back in the time of Prebble and Co – and National thought is was marvellous enough to continue.
I wonder if this government combination has enough spine and skill to rattle the tripes of Health, DSW in all its incarnations, Corrections, Immigration, Business Innovation and Inflated Egos at the very least. And State Services. Of course.
Is there anyone like Margaret Bazley, who remembers the time before the corruption of the public service by the little Washington wannabes, that we could ask-beg-plead to come back and head up the fire hose crew? (NOT a past MP or anyone from the parliamentary twig.)
Shocking. Take the guy to court. Tired of all these freeloaders. Send a message or even better get him for fraud. Not bothering to put in expenses for years does not sound legal when he’s funding mistresses and luxury hotels while sick people suffer.
*** And in breaking news Dave***
The Rat has been flushed from the drain…
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11948918
Although and inquiry and a sacking should have been the desired outcome.
Fuck’n well done Dave! For all the right reasons personally & politically, you’ve done the right thing for the public good and your whanau. Awesome mate.
When will Kiwis realise that the sole purpose of a DHB is to excuse the Minister from any blame for underfunded health services. Abolish themm all!
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