'Idiots' to blame for health-board head's job loss

By HELEN TUNNAH and MATHEW DEARNALEY

Auckland's outspoken health-board head, Wayne Brown, has lashed out at "idiot" politicians and officials after an administrative blunder forced him to step down as chairman of the Tairawhiti District Health Board.

Mr Brown, also Auckland District Health Board chairman, has resigned from the Gisborne health body after being told he could not be on two boards at once.

He was elected to Tairawhiti in October and the Government appointed him chairman of the Auckland board a month later.

But under legislation passed in 2000, an elected member of one board cannot be appointed to another.

The Ministry of Health last night blamed the oversight on an "administrative error".

Mr Brown told the Herald the officials could have sorted out the problem by changing the rules rather than forcing him to choose between his two jobs.

"I didn't do anything wrong, the people of Gisborne want me. Why don't they just fix it?

"I didn't know the idiots in the ministry hadn't read their own rules. What are these idiot politicians doing?

"I've been forced to choose between one or the other and I don't like it."

A former head of Northland Health, Mr Brown was appointed a commissioner at Tairawhiti in July 2000 after the previous board was sacked following a series of internal rifts and health scandals.

The Director-General of Health, Karen Poutasi, said the ministry had become aware of the jobs conflict in recent days after being notified by the Tairawhiti board, which had had the matter "drawn to their attention".

The ministry took legal advice and worked through a solution with Mr Brown. A law change would have taken too long.

Meanwhile, the Resident Doctors Association says two members have decided not to apply for jobs in Auckland after seeing Mr Brown's criticism of doctors on the Sunday TV programme last weekend.

Feature: Our sick hospitals