Otago District Health Board chairman Richard Thomson expects to be sacked after his refusal last night to resign when asked to do so by Health Minister Tony Ryall.
Mr Thomson said the minister had listened to what he had told him a week ago in a briefing on
the background to the $16.9 million fraud by Michael Swann and Kerry Harford involving the board, but that Mr Ryall did not have confidence in him and wanted him to resign.
He told Mr Ryall the minister should have the courage of his convictions and sack him and provide the public with reasons for doing so.
Mr Ryall's office last night issued a one-sentence statement from him, saying: "I expect accountability throughout the public health system."
Mr Thomson said it was clear several weeks ago that Mr Ryall wished to remove him and was using the briefing last week as some sort of justification.
Mr Thomson said that before Christmas he had offered to go to Wellington to brief the minister about the fraud, as he had briefed previous health ministers.
Mr Ryall then issued a press release saying he had asked Mr Thomson to come to Wellington to discuss the fraud.
This action, Mr Thomson said, had turned the matter into a "three-ring circus", making it a political matter rather than a fact-finding one.
Mr Thomson said last night the structure of the frauds was set up well before he became chairman in 2001.
"They occurred under a previous administration and despite the fact that administration was warned regarding Swann's alleged previous dishonesty."
Despite that warning, which was never communicated to the new district health board, the next two budgets during that previous administration resulted in a doubling of information technology expenditure, he said.
Mr Thomson said he acted immediately after concerns were raised with him in early 2006.
- Otago Daily Times
