More on the DHB with money to burn
I blogged in May on how MidCentral fought all the way to the High Court against an alcohol licence for Dannevirke New World. Their objection was on the angle of the shelves in the alcohol aisle.
Now only did they object to the local District Licensing Committee who dismissed their objection as nonsense. They appealed the decision to the Alcohol Regulatory and Licensing Authority and then having lost there appealed again to the High Court. Utter madness.
Now after I blogged on the story, Carrick Graham filed an OIA with MidCentral Health asking for a copy of any briefings, reports or communications to the DHB Board, the DHB CEO or the DHB Leadership Team on the costs of the objection and appeals.
The OIA response is here: OIA – Carrick Graham Dannevirke Licensing.
It transpires:
- There was no communication of any kind to the DHB Board around the costs of this legal action.
- There was no communication of any kind to the DHB CEO around the costs of this legal action
- There was no communication of any kind to the Executive Leadership Team around the costs of this legal action
It is staggering that not didn’t the Medical Officer of Health seek approval or costs from any of the above, he didn’t even bother informing them that he was going to spend what is probably hundreds of thousands of dollars taking a supermarket to court over the angle of its shelves.
The Medical Officer of Health for that DHB has a $6.5 million budget and it seems can spend it on whatever they want. Think how many more people could have had elective surgery if they hadn’t wasted it on litigation over the angle of supermarket shelves.