HEALTH DISASTER COVERUP GOES RIGHT TO THE TOP OF THE QUEENSLAND STATE ADMINISTRATION

Good to have those nice socialists looking after you -- as long as you like being in the mushroom club, that is (being kept in the dark and fed bull***t)

The senior public servant implicated in a high-level cover-up of hospital data has extricated himself from the saga, telling the health inquiry his [socialist] political masters were driving the agenda in a bid to protect themselves. Justin Collins, manager of the now-controversial Measured Quality department at Queensland Health, said his unit wanted to disseminate its groundbreaking review of the state's hospitals when it was compiled in mid 2002, but that process was delayed by almost a year after the health minister of the day and then members of the Premier's Department became involved. The inquiry was told Mr Collins briefed then health minister Wendy Edmond and director-general Rob Stable in August, 2002, on the intended release of the 60 individual hospital reports and an accompanying public report, but the documents were taken to Cabinet and the public report "finessed" by ministerial staffers before it was eventually released in mid 2003.

Under freedom of information legislation, documents taken to Cabinet can be kept secret unless the Government chooses to release details. The individual hospital reports were kept secret after a directive from Premier Peter Beattie and only released in restricted form to selected senior hospital administrators. Mr Beattie has argued that Queensland Health recommended the hospital reports not be released publicly.

Mr Collins, a public servant for 13 years, was embroiled in the controversy last week when the inquiry was shown a ministerial briefing he wrote which recommended a second lot of hospital data should also be taken to Cabinet to afford it "the same consideration for FOI exemption". But Mr Collins said the phrase was inserted by a superior and he instead painted himself as an unwilling participant in the whole process of reworking the documents. He said his impression was "Cabinet was very nervous about the existence of the hospital reports and who would end up seeing them".

He said he was frustrated by the delay in the dissemination of the hospital data, which crushed the effectiveness of the program, and admitted he was "embarrassed" by the excuses he was forced to give to clinicians about why they could not see the reports. Mr Collins said he told Ms Edmond and Professor Stable he was not happy with the restrictions imposed by Cabinet, but it did not make a difference.

Under cross-examination by Queensland Nurses Union barrister John Allen, Mr Collins agreed changes made by Government staffers to the public report did not enhance the value of the information to clinicians or the public.

More here

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For greatest efficiency, lowest cost and maximum choice, ALL hospitals and health insurance schemes should be privately owned and run -- with government-paid vouchers for the very poor and minimal regulation. Both Australia and Sweden have large private sector health systems with government reimbursement for privately-provided services so can a purely private system with some level of government reimbursement or insurance for the poor be so hard to do?

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