Tony Ryall MP
National Party Health Spokesman

5 December 2007

Papers show depth of crisis at Wellington DHB

National Party Health spokesman Tony Ryall says David Cunliffe must inject fresh urgency into his management of the crisis at Wellington Hospital.

"The catalogue of problems revealed in an Official Information Act request, which took two years to surface, show there have been systemic problems at the Capital and Coast DHB for quite some time.

"Wellington Hospital has been subject to damning report, after damning report. The CEO's resignation today is not some magic bullet that will resolve all the problems."

Mr Ryall says the Labour Government has known about the problems.

"If not the new Minister, David Cunliffe, then his predecessors Pete Hodgson and Annette King will have known.

"Labour has four appointees on the Capital and Coast DHB, and appointed the chair and the deputy chair. It has been monitored and the subject of countless reports.

"Between 2003 and 2005, one patient a month was a victim of a serious or fatal incident at the hospital. This report is two years out of date and the public know that things have got worse.

"Mr Cunliffe should reveal if this is an 'under reporting of incidents' as has been suggested this morning, and he should move to release the most up-to-date figures he has.

"Beyond that, he needs to stop his sabre rattling, and start 'running the show'."

ENDS

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