17 February 2008

Oh Lord, shoot me now.

The latest utterances on the breast cancer inquiry, courtesy of Voice of the Cabinet Minister.

Danny Williams respects the decision.

We may all rest easy;  what else was he supposed to do?

According to VOCM: "Health Minister Ross Wiseman says the ruling will allow the Commission to get on with its work."

Now these two comments are interesting given that both men could have - at any point - directed Eastern Health to turn over the reports.  At the very least, had they exercised their powers earlier they would have saved everyone the embarrassment of watching Eastern Health officials testify under oath that the board's position was basically an invented crock of nonsense.

The whole fiasco just makes you wonder.

And if that wasn't enough, take a look at acting Eastern Health chief executive Louise Jones' latest offering:  according to VOCM, she is now thankful for the court decision. Apparently, Eastern Health couldn't make such a decision on its own.

Couldn't make a decision to release documents that she and her colleagues in senior management knew weren't peer reviews in conformance with corporate policy and couldn't be quality assurance reviews since there is no quality assurance policy/program at Eastern.

Wow.

This little VOCM report is a collection of penetrating insights into the obvious, vapid comments that make Paris Hilton seem like a Rocket Scientist and what appears to be the third entirely different strategic talking point in as many days for Jones.

None of it bodes well for public faith in the health care system.

One can only imagine what the talking points will be once the inquiry is underway and Wiseman is under oath.

-srbp-