August 21, 2018 Government needs to act now on health corruption Shadow Minister for Health Sean L’Estrange says the McGowan Government must move immediately to restore public confidence in Western Australia’s public health system in the wake of last week’s damning Corruption and Crime Commission report on corruption within the North Metropolitan Health Service (NMHS). “I, along with the Liberal Opposition, am appreciative of the excellent work done by thousands of health professionals who do their best to support the people of WA,” Mr L’Estrange said. “The recent CCC report is an indictment on the Health Department officials who acted corruptly. “There are key aspects of the CCC report that require immediate action from the State Labor Government. “Minister for Health Roger Cook’s statement to Parliament today focused solely on how he would deal with already disclosed corruption but gave no way forward to ensure these events do not occur again. “Page one of the CCC report says the Department of Health policies and procedures were ineffective, warning signs went unexplored and a culture of fear left staff reluctant to speak up. “It further says the Health Department’s own investigation failed to address the conduct of any particular public officer and did nothing to deal with the officers responsible.” Mr L’Estrange said there had been a lot of noise from the Minister for Health Roger Cook about trying to recover redundancy payouts from corrupt public officers, but nothing about reforming the culture of public sector accountability in relation to how contracts were awarded and managed. “It is important for the McGowan Government to recover whatever public moneys it can, but it must also commit to an intensive top-down interrogation of how contracts are being managed right now,” Mr L’Estrange said. “We’ve also heard the words ‘isolated incident’ used a lot by the Government. The Minister needs to assure the public that this type of corrupt behaviour isn’t or hasn’t been happening elsewhere in the health system. “The public deserve an assurance from Minister Cook that he is holding his Director General, and the network of senior directors that sit beneath him, accountable to uncover any other signs of corruption. “Has Minister Cook ordered an immediate review and rewrite of policies and procedures? Is Minister Cook going to hold senior public officers accountable for any warning signs left unexplored? What additional processes has Minister Cook implemented to allow staff to report their suspicions without fear of reprisal? “All of these questions need immediate answers and action from the McGowan Government.” Ends |
