Page 1652 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 1 May 2012
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No bureaucracy—no matter how big, no matter how many processes are in place—can ever be proof against the kind of thing that has apparently occurred here, whatever safeguards are put in place. As a minister, I cannot micromanage the actions of every public servant—every teacher, every bus driver, every clerk, every police officer or every nurse. What I can do—what I have always done and always will do—is to ensure that I respond swiftly and effectively when a problem arises.
On 21 April I was advised by the Health Directorate that a staff member had come forward and admitted to making changes to waiting time records. An internal review suggested that this had been occurring for some time and that the changes had been made after records had been signed off and validated by the medical director of the emergency department.
The Health Directorate began an immediate review. The first process would examine the data changes, establishing when they commenced, how they occurred and who was responsible. A more extensive review of data integrity of all our information management systems across Health was also considered, including oversight by external partners, such as the AIHW and the commonwealth government. This second process is still under consideration, pending a decision of the Auditor-General.
In the past week there have been concerns raised by Mr Hanson around the integrity of data at Calvary Public Hospital. On the issue of Calvary Public Hospital, the government cannot make Calvary undergo the same process as Canberra Hospital, as it is not owned or operated by the ACT government. Of course Calvary are aware of the issues at Canberra Hospital, and there is work underway to ensure that the Calvary ED data is correct post the implementation of a new IT system. In the absence of any firm information that there are problems with the integrity of Calvary’s emergency department data, this is something the Auditor-General may consider if she proceeds with a performance audit.
In relation to the Canberra Hospital data issue, the directorate made several immediate changes to tighten up procedures, including additional data validation processes. Last Friday I wrote to the ACT Auditor-General asking that she give consideration to a performance audit of the Health Directorate’s data collection, reporting and integrity system. I cannot, of course, direct her office to conduct such an audit, and I await her independent view on whether she regards one to be warranted.
What we have heard this morning, and indeed from media reports, is that the Seselja Liberals do not believe that a review by the Auditor-General is enough. I very much doubt that anything short of an in camera court martial in Guantanamo Bay would satisfy Mr Hanson in this regard. The government, however, believes that the office of the Auditor-General brings to its work the highest degrees of independence, integrity and professionalism.
The running of a government is not without its problems. We wish it was not the case, but with a workplace of 20,000 delivering services at the local level, and to the extent that we do, problems, mistakes and errors will occur. The test of the leaders of government is how you respond when that occurs. Leadership does require you to
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