KEY POINTS:
Health Minister David Cunliffe today faced a parliamentary grilling over his decision to sack the Hawke's Bay District Health Board.
Mr Cunliffe replaced the board with a commissioner, Sir John Anderson, last week, citing internal board divisions, an "irrevocable breakdown" in relations with hospital management and a $7.7 million budget blowout.
But on the first sitting day of Parliament after a week-long recess Mr Cunliffe today faced criticism from National, ACT, the Maori Party and even Labour's allies the Greens over his decision.
National's health spokesman, Tony Ryall, accused the Government of "cronyism" over former Health Minister Annette King's June 2005 appointment of Peter Hausmann to the health board.
Ms King's husband, Ray Lind, was chief operating officer of the DHB's hospital at the time and has since gone to work for Mr Hausmann's company Healthcare New Zealand.
Mr Ryall said Mr Cunliffe had sacked the board to cover up for the appointment of Mr Hausmann, who is at the centre of a Health Ministry review into alleged conflicts of interest at the DHB.
The allegations centre on a failed $50 million contract bid by Healthcare New Zealand, for community services funded by the DHB.
Mr Ryall told Parliament the Health Ministry report - set to be released in two weeks - would show Mr Hausmann had colluded with DHB management to alter tender documents, before they went out publicly, to favour his company's bid.
He tabled "secret" emails between Healthcare NZ and DHB staff in May 2005, suggesting Mr Hausmann's company received copies of the draft tender documents, and suggested changes, three months before they were put out publicly.
Mr Ryall said the emails had been withheld from the Health Ministry review, but had been recovered by forensic work carried out in London on the DHB's computer backup files.
He said the emails suggested there was something "rotten and improper in the relationship between the management of this district health board and Mr Hausmann" and the board appeared to have the "balance of truth" on its side.
But Mr Cunliffe said he had not taken sides in the dispute and was reserving judgment until he received the report on March 17.
Greens health spokeswoman Sue Kedgley said the sacking showed the Government was using health boards as scapegoats when things went wrong.
ACT health spokeswoman Heather Roy used a snap debate on the issue to accuse the Government of seeking to silence the board on the various disputes by sacking them.
Meanwhile National leader John Key accused the Government of failing to properly manage the public health sector as a whole.
In addition to the problems at the Capital and Coast and Hawke's Bay DHBs, he cited a report critical of Auckland's mental health services, clinicians' concerns at Waitemata DHB and problems stemming from the botched operations of Wanganui-based gynaecologist Roman Hasil.
But Miss Clark said the health system was doing well by international comparisons and performing well for most people.
"Most of us have family members or close acquaintances who have been delivered life saving care by the Kiwi health system."
- NZPA
