Nouvelles

Telegraph Journal
p. A6, mardi, 13 janvier 2009

Bad policy, bad politics

In less than two years, the waiting period for procedures at the N.B. Heart Centre has jumped from 77 days to 126 days. Nursing shortages have grown so severe the province just narrowly avoided a strike. Administrative costs are rising, thanks to the minister's new organizational structure, and old regional rivalries have morphed into a battle between cultural groups.

This is what happens when politics gets in the way of efficient and effective management. Mr. Murphy's plan is a failure, and it's time the government admitted it.

Reducing the number of hospital corporations to save money was a good idea in principle. But it got derailed when the minister put political considerations ahead of sound policy.

Mr. Murphy's decision to create two health authorities opened the door to regional competition based on language. It produced a surge of fear that francophones would be denied equal rights, a push for greater duplication of services, and a court challenge that could take seven years to resolve.

The minister's second misstep was opting to headquarter the new authorities in Bathurst and Miramichi, far from the Department of Health and the largest medical centres. In just three months, executives and board members of the new authorities have billed nearly a quarter of a million dollars in travel expenses and allowances. Expect these expenses to keep growing.

The Department of Health's "savings" are being frittered away on hotels, restaurant bills, gasoline receipts and per diems to leading law firms. None of these expenditures have anything to do with the goal of improving health care.

Mr. Murphy's attitude to those who question the wisdom of these decisions is appalling. He dismisses the cost and consequence of the lawsuit, suggesting he won't be health minister when the case is finally decided. He speaks of staff shortages as if they result from a natural cycle, rather than a failure to recruit and retain essential personnel. He expresses surprise that assessing more patients with cardiac complaints has meant the provincial heart centre needs to schedule more surgeries. And when he talks about gains, he stresses the political value of investments, not the medical, financial or societal benefits.

Mr. Murphy is treating New Brunswick's most vital public service as if it were a political tool. This is not just bad public policy, it is bad politics.

If Mr. Murphy's policies truly express how the Liberals feel about health care, the government won't have to wait seven years to find out whether his reforms will survive.

In 2010, dissatisfied patients and their families will render their own judgment - and unless significant changes are made, the vote is likely to be decisive.