KEY POINTS:
The battling Hawkes Bay District Health Board is refusing to go down without a fight, and has gone to court over a high profile inquiry just a day before it appears set to be sacked by Health Minister David Cunliffe.
In a dramatic twist, the health board yesterday went to the Wellington High Court to seek a judicial review of an inquiry into conflict of interest allegations that has been going on since July last year.
Board chairman Kevin Atkinson said the legal action was taken because of "genuine concerns" about the timeframe the three-man review panel had given the board to respond.
He also highlighted the absence of material that the board had asked for, which was "relevant and important" to the response.
A complaint has been laid with the Office of the Ombudsman.
The action - which could prevent the inquiry report being released in its current form - intensifies what has been an often heated dispute. Mr Cunliffe is losing patience with the drama and is set to decide today whether to sack the entire board and appoint a commissioner to take over.
Yesterday he received a letter and submissions from the board about its plans for the future after he last week threatened members with the sack if they could not convince him they could improve their performance.
He has become concerned about what he calls the board's challenges of him and its attempts to use the media to advance personal agendas.
The health board's financial situation is also deteriorating, although it is not the only board in the country to be facing a deficit.
Mr Atkinson has been frank at times and his candour has not always been welcomed in the Beehive.
But he does have a lot of local support and was re-elected to the board by the public in last October's district health board elections as the highest polling candidate - meaning there is some political risk to Labour's hopes of winning back electorate seats in the region if it fires Mr Atkinson.
The inquiry report at the centre of the court action is understood to be still in draft form, and the board is upset at not being given long enough to reply to the second draft.
It is understood the report changed significantly from its first draft to its second draft and became more critical of the board rather than member Peter Hausmann - whose company's involvement in a multi-million dollar tender led to the inquiry being set up.
Mr Hausmann last night issued a statement urging the board to withdraw its legal proceedings so the report could be released.
He was "extremely concerned" some board members had initiated the legal action and he called on them to explain to the Hawke's Bay public why the inquiry should be withheld.
Mr Hausmann has strongly stated several times he did nothing wrong at the board and acted with integrity over the tender process.
