My word, the archives are just full of wax tablets that some people would just love to see destroyed in a conflagration of the Roman sort!
The following is a blog posting by Kevin McCready who experienced the same run-around that many of the general community have experienced. I now wonder if Kevin ever got the response to his letter!
Altmed in NSW Health (Kevin's blog)
May 8, 2009
I sent the following to the NSW Department of Health in May 2008 and have had no response. It appears to be strong evidence of links between the alternative medicine industry and the NSW Department of Health:
Ms Deborah Picone
Director General
NSW Department of Health
Dear Ms Picone
This email is about 2 issues:
1. Links between the Department of Health and the Australasian College of Natural Therapies (ACNT)
2. Lack of DOH action on a matter of public health (promotion of homeopathy for reversing diabetes)
At about 3.35pm Friday 2 May I phoned NSW Health 9391 9000 with a complaint about homeopathy and was transferred to an outside agency, the Australasian College of Natural Therapies (ACNT) which promotes homeopathy. I was astounded and disturbed by this.
I phoned 9391 9000 again and asked to speak to you or your PA and was told by switch operator Susie neither of you was available.
The switch operators gave me the runaround. Susie (~3.37pm) transferred me to Rita (~3.39) who told me the that the College of Natural Therapies was often very helpful and offered to transfer me to them again. Rita said another switchboard operator had transferred me to the College earlier. Rita wouldn’t give me the name of that operator. She then said Mary Crum was the NSW Health officer normally dealing with natural therapies but she was on leave and her number was 9391 9000 and I could ring later. I asked Rita (3.42pm) to tell me the name of her supervisor. She wouldn’t and made me wait for about seven minutes. At 3.49 I was finally transferred to Bill Hiler (9391 9459) who said he was in Policy and part of his role was advising on the clinical aspects of homeopathy.
I explained to Mr Hiler that I had two issues now. First the fact that I was transferred out of the Department to ACNT. He said he couldn’t deal with that. I then outlined the first reason for my call – Tweed Shire Council advertising homeopathy. The Council newsletter, distributed to all letterboxes and available on the web, had just advertised talks at two local libraries by a homeopath Jenny Carlan. The ad on page 2 of the Tweed Link newsletter indicated homeopathy may reverse Type 2 diabetes and other illnesses.
http://www.tweed.nsw.gov.au/linkweb/TweedlinkDetail.aspx
Mr Hiler said he would do nothing about the second issue either and told me I had to make a complaint to the Department of Fair Trading. He said DOH had no power to intervene or suggest to the TSC that it cancel the proposed talk.
I asked Mr Hiler for Val Johnson’s phone number. He asked his assistant Rebecca for it but he wouldn’t give it to me. After another wait he then transferred me to Val.
I’d appreciate a call or written response from you on these 2 issues.
Kevin McCready
Well Kevin I can tell you that things in the Department of Health remain the same! Scrolls of complaints sent by community members to the D-G and to the Ministers have all gone into that big black hole that hovers over North Sydney.
Showing posts with label Complaints in Health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Complaints in Health. Show all posts
Friday, September 17, 2010
Sunday, August 1, 2010
ICAC and SSWAHS - Mission Impossible?
Now we all know that if anyone, especially those who wish to blow the whistle on corruption, read the newspapers, watch the telly or even listen to the Executive of an Area Health Service like SSWAHS, sees something that looks corrupt and smells corrupt there is a good chance that it is corrupt.
Socrates has been told that a community member from the Highlands wrote to ICAC in November 2009, with a statement that there had been alleged corrupt conduct by a staff member working in the Bowral health services. Basically, the allegations related to the staff member entering on his time sheet that he was on duty at work when he was, in fact, at home painting his house. So, he was effectively being paid by SSWAHS to paint his house instead of working with the health service and doing his job. I guess we all have some idea of just how long it does take to paint a house in Bowral when you're doing it yourself! A second allegation made to ICAC about this same individual was that when rostered on-duty on weekends he sometimes took to a couch and had a nap instead of contacting health consumers or visiting patients in the hospital or the community.
The behaviour of this person looks corrupt and smells corrupt so you'd think that ICAC would be interested in it. Well, no they weren't. The reason given was that the member of the community "had no direct knowledge of the allegations of these complaints", and if the staff member "was intentionally missing work to do something at home, it does not appear to meet the requirement of serious and systemic corrupt conduct." At least the ICAC did decide to refer the matter of the allegations to the AHS "for their information" and action if SSWAHS deemed it appropriate. Oh, dear! I hear you groan. Another of SSWAHS's internal investigations!
Well Socrates does have to uncover his head to them because SSWAHS did send along that pesky investigator of theirs who spoke to a couple of staff who, apparently, were able to confirm the truth of the activities of the staff member described in the letter to ICAC. One of the Vestal Virgins (or was it the Muse?) of the Bowral Temple heard that the SSWAHS investigator's parting comment went something along the lines of "Hmmm! as there is no photographic evidence that these events did take place, I suspect that nothing will come of it". And blow my flute and dance a bacchanalia - he was right!
So next time you attend court before a magistrate tell him or her to forget the statements of eyewitnesses and others and demand to see their photographic proof.
I guess most businesses would be somewhat unwilling to keep employed someone who defrauded the business by falsifying documents like a time sheet and who continued the fraud over some time. Strange isn't it, that recently ICAC spent a lot of time and money investigating a certain NSW politician over her falsification of her staff member's time sheets. So I guess her falsification of time sheets did "appear to meet the requirement of serious and systemic corrupt conduct." Go figure it!
Well if you are so inclined to rort your employer - get a job with SSWAHS. Socrates has heard that they recently made that particular staff member a Manager. I guess it takes one to know one - which is a good line on which to finish this post.
Socrates has been told that a community member from the Highlands wrote to ICAC in November 2009, with a statement that there had been alleged corrupt conduct by a staff member working in the Bowral health services. Basically, the allegations related to the staff member entering on his time sheet that he was on duty at work when he was, in fact, at home painting his house. So, he was effectively being paid by SSWAHS to paint his house instead of working with the health service and doing his job. I guess we all have some idea of just how long it does take to paint a house in Bowral when you're doing it yourself! A second allegation made to ICAC about this same individual was that when rostered on-duty on weekends he sometimes took to a couch and had a nap instead of contacting health consumers or visiting patients in the hospital or the community.
The behaviour of this person looks corrupt and smells corrupt so you'd think that ICAC would be interested in it. Well, no they weren't. The reason given was that the member of the community "had no direct knowledge of the allegations of these complaints", and if the staff member "was intentionally missing work to do something at home, it does not appear to meet the requirement of serious and systemic corrupt conduct." At least the ICAC did decide to refer the matter of the allegations to the AHS "for their information" and action if SSWAHS deemed it appropriate. Oh, dear! I hear you groan. Another of SSWAHS's internal investigations!
Well Socrates does have to uncover his head to them because SSWAHS did send along that pesky investigator of theirs who spoke to a couple of staff who, apparently, were able to confirm the truth of the activities of the staff member described in the letter to ICAC. One of the Vestal Virgins (or was it the Muse?) of the Bowral Temple heard that the SSWAHS investigator's parting comment went something along the lines of "Hmmm! as there is no photographic evidence that these events did take place, I suspect that nothing will come of it". And blow my flute and dance a bacchanalia - he was right!
So next time you attend court before a magistrate tell him or her to forget the statements of eyewitnesses and others and demand to see their photographic proof.
I guess most businesses would be somewhat unwilling to keep employed someone who defrauded the business by falsifying documents like a time sheet and who continued the fraud over some time. Strange isn't it, that recently ICAC spent a lot of time and money investigating a certain NSW politician over her falsification of her staff member's time sheets. So I guess her falsification of time sheets did "appear to meet the requirement of serious and systemic corrupt conduct." Go figure it!
Well if you are so inclined to rort your employer - get a job with SSWAHS. Socrates has heard that they recently made that particular staff member a Manager. I guess it takes one to know one - which is a good line on which to finish this post.
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