Health Minister Yvette D'Ath has refused to answer questions about why the North West Hospital and Health service board were sacked and an administrator appointed.
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The minister had issued a brief statement following the appointment of Michael Walsh to administer the Health Service saying there were concerns about "sustainable governance and financial management" but it left more questions than answers.
Meanwhile local MP Robbie Katter has said the issues are more related to government underfunding of the health service rather than the performance of the board.
As a result the North West Star posed four questions to Minister D'Ath office about the matter.
They were:
1) What were the concerns of "sustainable governance and financial management" that caused a well-respected board to be sacked?
2) Robbie Katter says the real problem is "underfunding not board mismanagement". He listed a lack of dialysis chairs and mental health in patients. Isn't he correct? What is being done to address these shortfalls?
3) How will an administrator who does not know the region do better than the collective powers of a board who were deliberately hand-picked for their local knowledge and expertise? How does this decision support the minister's statement that "ensuring the delivery of sustainable health services to the North West Queensland community is a priority".
4). There is a widespread belief in NW Qld this is an excuse to cut the budget of NWHHS. Does the government have plans to cut the budget and if so by how much?
The minister's office did not meet the deadline we set for the question and when we queried the matter, we got the following response from a spokesperson:"the Minister has issued a public statement on this matter and has also previously said the State Budget will include record funding for health."
Mr Katter said the real problem was there not enough money to provide the services the North West requires.
"That is not a function of the board or the executive level at the hospital, that is purely lack of funding but rather than fix the problem the government has merely changed governance," Mr Katter said.
Administrator Michael Walsh, a former Health Department director-general has been appointed for six months.
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