A member of the sacked Tairawhiti Healthcare board says he is not aware of any political element to the row over Gisborne Hospital's botched prostate cancer tests.
Health Minister Annette King has requested that the Crown Company Monitoring Advisory Unit look into whether the National Party tried to cover up the problem.
She said she was disturbed that a former Gisborne laboratory biochemist, John Rutledge, had passed on his concerns, but they were allegedly covered up by National members.
"It would be totally unacceptable to New Zealanders if political hacks had withheld information that might have serious implications for a large number of people."
Annette King has asked the unit to investigate whether the technician's information was passed on to the Health Minister of the day, the Tairawhiti board or to the unit itself.
She sacked the board last Wednesday after learning of the prostate scare, and appointed Northland Health chief Wayne Brown as a one-man board.
Sacked board member Peter Wilson, who said he had no party affiliations, denied that there was any political element to the issue, let alone a coverup.
"I know nothing about anything that has got any political element at all."
Mr Rutledge said he was suspended from work last year after confidentially telling a National Party candidate about cost-cutting in the hospital laboratory.
He said he was being blamed by hospital management for errors affecting the prostate test results of 465 men - of whom 111 have been recalled for reassessment.
The hospital has said the errors involved a senior technologist using chemicals from the wrong manufacturer in a Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) testing machine.
Mr Wilson said he could not recall Mr Rutledge's action coming up at a board meeting. The first he knew of errors affecting prostate tests from the hospital was last Wednesday.
If he had known before then he and the board would have acted.
"I can't say Mr Rutledge's concerns were ever raised to the board, but there were certainly questions about laboratory operations from time to time. That would be what I would regard as normal procedures.
"It's very important to make that differentiation. There's a difference between administrative problems and specific clinical issues."
Health and Disability Commissioner Ron Paterson reached Gisborne on Monday, with two clinical advisers, to launch a formal investigation into patient care and management practices at the hospital.
Annette King ordered the independent inquiry a month ago following allegations over the behaviour of a former Gisborne Hospital anaesthetist.
Mr Rutledge said the laboratory where he worked was subjected to cost-cutting and staff were under "intolerable pressures from management."
Before last year's general election, he raised the issues with East Coast National candidate Matthew Parkinson in a confidential conversation. Mr Rutledge said he did not give his name because he was scared of losing his job if caught criticising hospital management.
Mr Parkinson then allegedly told hospital board chairwoman Pat Seymour, who was also a top National Party official.
Mr Parkinson would not comment on Mr Rutledge's allegations, saying "it just protracts the beat-up and I don't see any value in that."
He said that on his initiative, he had given the "full story" to the unit and a report was expected to be delivered to the minister today.
- NZPA
'No politics' says sacked board man
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