Can we all just pause for Dave Macpherson and his whanau?
I’ve always considered Dave and his whanau as some of the toughest and most courageous people I know. When they were let down by the Waikato DHB over the appalling lack of oversight they gave their son Nicky Stevens who died in their care, Dave ran for the Board so that the mental health failings that robbed them of their son wouldn’t occur to anyone else.
While on the Board, Dave helped expose the corruption that stained the entire DHB.
What has Dave’s reward been for stepping up, becoming involved in civic affairs to ensure the same pain inflicted upon his family wouldn’t be inflicted upon anyone else?
Why he’s had the Ministry of Health go against the coroners ruling into his sons death…
Dave and Jane, having been vindicated by the Coroner, deserved much better of the Waikato health bureaucracy than this reprehensible attempt to have the whole inquest re-staged. Not content with contributing to the death of Nicky Stevens, Dave and Jane’s deeply troubled son, the Board seems intent upon recommencing the slow torture of his parents.
…he’ been sacked from the Board despite being one of the voices demanding accountability and highlighting its disfunction…
Waikato District Health Board members have been sacked after ongoing performance issues and “continual adverse publicity”.
Just over two weeks ago, Health Minister David Clark warned board members he was thinking of replacing them with a commissioner.
When the board responded, all but two members offered to resign.
…and on top of all of this, Dave and his whanau have had to fund all of the legal representation of their son while the public officials they are fighting get unlimited legal representation…
Ms Stevens pointed out that her son Nicky, “died while in the legal care of Waikato DHB, despite specific warnings from our whanau that his life was at extreme risk, yet we’ve had to endure four years and counting of inquiries and hearings without any legal support from the DHB or Government.”
She said the whanau had “run out of money to fund a lawyer after spending over $12,000 in the first few months after Nicky died.”
“Many families cannot even afford that, and after our money ran out, we were also on our own for 3 years, until the last couple of months when a family friend from another city helped us ‘pro bono’ for the final stages of the Coroner’s Inquest.”
Nicky’s father Dave Macpherson said “Waikato DHB three times turned down our request for legal support to put Nicky’s case in front of several inquiries; including the DHB’s own Serious Incident Review, an Independent Police Conduct Inquiry, a Ministry of Health facilities inquiry and the Coroner’s Inquest.”
… they have called for the Government to provide free legal support for families of those bereaved by suicide.
You can sign the petition here.
What else can a parent do when the state kills your child? You run to be a public voice on the organisation that killed and you highlight the incompetence and corruption and for doing so get sacked when the Government wants to sweep it all under the carpet.
Nicky Stevens deserved better than this. Dave and his whanau deserve better than this.
Where is the ‘politics of kindness’ in any of this?
…again, happy to ‘give a little’ for this cause.
It is justice all wrong, sadly seen the world over.
Me to. – If they can not take care of our citizens they need too be sorted.
I don’t know whether I should pity you people or not, but you guys are somewhat naive to the extreme. The system is so geared and so full of carefully selectively appointed boys and girls from old boys and old girls networks, it is biased and against any person who dares dig into things and tries to reveal the truth.
So Dave is up against the networks in place, he is up against a system based on laws offering power and discretion to decision makers in government and outside, that will enable the system to repel any critics and true fighters for the truth and justice.
That is also why those who get elected into government will soon fall into place, so to not upset the system, as they are forced to comply and collaborate, or they will soon find themselves jobless and out of government again.
We cannot really rely on our so called ‘watchdogs’ either, they are useless, and in some ways biased themselves, no real help to bring out the truth and enable changes:
https://nzsocialjusticeblog2013.wordpress.com/2017/11/21/how-the-new-zealand-ombudsman-effectively-provides-cover-for-the-hdc-an-information-request-complaint-case/
(published 21 Nov. 2017, 20.25h)
PDF version of 28 Nov. 2017:
https://nzsocialjusticeblog2013.files.wordpress.com/2017/11/how-the-n-z-ombudsman-effectively-provides-cover-for-the-hdc-report-post-28-11-17.pdf
‘THE NEW ZEALAND OMBUDSMAN: “FAIRNESS FOR ALL” – AN EMPTY SLOGAN FOR SOME’
https://nzsocialjusticeblog2013.wordpress.com/2016/07/24/the-new-zealand-ombudsman-fairness-for-all-an-empty-slogan-for-some/
https://nzsocialjusticeblog2013.wordpress.com/2016/03/28/how-the-hdc-throws-out-valid-complaints-and-protects-code-breaching-health-professionals-a-true-story/
The list could go on, but the MSM is biased also, of course, and nobody really cares, the hamsters are stuck in their hamster wheels and run, run, run, trying to get ahead, while in reality they get nowhere, that is the common folks and voters out there.
No time to look to the side though, no time to look ahead, no time to face reality, just keep running to keep up with the other hamsters in their wheels.
Signed, thanks. All the very best to Dave and his family.
I will leave it to others to argue whether the Red team is different from or better than the Blue team. For me both teams are the same.
To Dave and his whanau keep fighting don’t give in. My sister was admitted to Henry Bennett in Hamilton a few years ago and when they released her she was worse than when she went in and they shouldn’t have released her but they did.
For more than 30 years our whanau have had to fight the system not just the mental health system, the entire state system this can be degrading, tiring and its wears you down.
+100 Great Post…the medical profession should be held accountable for their mistakes and their organisations for cover ups….but they are NOT!
….seems like this present Labour Minister of Health is now part of the problem
….I doubt whether former Labour Party Minister of Health, Annette King would have done this
Spot on Red Buzzard. The only word I disagree with though is “mistakes”. Perhaps it should be “negligence” – as in “the medical profession should be held accountable for their negligence etc.”
Yes I agree about the term ‘negligence’ and there are other terms which could be used eg ‘cartel’ and ‘euthanasia’…and the term that is used when the patient wants to live but is put down….begins with ‘M’
….there should be an opening of all records at ‘The Health and Disability Commission’ to see how well they have acted, or not acted at all, as a public watch dog for New Zealanders complaints about their treatment at the hands of the medical profession and State hospital and private care
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