$100,000 raise while on being on leave and during an investigation

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kingdragonfly

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Topic # 222813 29-Aug-2017 18:38

From Stuff
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/96267274/waikato-dhb-chiefs-sixfigure-pay-increase-questioned

"Waikato health boss's six-figure pay increase questioned"

by Aaron Leaman and Florence Kerr

"Waikato health boss Nigel Murray pocketed a six-figure pay increase at the same time he failed to file expense claims which have triggered a high-level investigation.

Murray has been on leave since July 26 following allegations of unauthorised spending. No date has been set for his return.

...

Waikato DHB chairman Bob Simcock said Murray's pay reflected the board's collective opinion of his performance at the time.

'When you start a new chief executive you end up with a lag between the two years. It looks like there is a big jump, but it's not really a big jump,' Simcock said..."

Boy, do I feel stupid complaining about a lack of cost-of-living raises :(

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Reply # 1854951 29-Aug-2017 21:20

Not a good look, unfortunately capitalism at its finest.

Kiwifruta

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Reply # 1854966 29-Aug-2017 21:53

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Batman:
Not a good look, unfortunately capitalism at its finest.

Capitalism? This is state funded.

Fred99

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Reply # 1854969 29-Aug-2017 22:10

Kiwifruta:
Batman:

Not a good look, unfortunately capitalism at its finest.

Capitalism? This is state funded.

Exactly.

And although most DHB members are elected (by the very small minority in the community who bother to vote), in the case of Waikato (and many other DHBs) the present chair and deputy chair are government / ministerial appointees.

One of the reasons why 3rd term governments start looking a bit dodgy - cronyism starts sneaking in. It's not just in the health sector.

Batman

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Reply # 1854970 29-Aug-2017 22:19

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It's state funded, not state run - the organization is run like a business isn't it? Sack all the kitchen staff to save half a dollar here and there just so the CEO can get a 100k pay rise?

Fred99

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Reply # 1854995 29-Aug-2017 22:41

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Batman:

It's state funded, not state run - the organization is run like a business isn't it? Sack all the kitchen staff to save half a dollar here and there just so the CEO can get a 100k pay rise?

Chair of the Waikato DHB is an ex National Party MP. I presume he was appointed by Minister Coleman.

Nice to think it's not state run, but the board approves CE remuneration. It's a back-scratching game.

Kiwifruta

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Reply # 1854999 29-Aug-2017 22:55

Batman:
It's state funded, not state run - the organization is run like a business isn't it? Sack all the kitchen staff to save half a dollar here and there just so the CEO can get a 100k pay rise?

Run like a business, I think not. I know business owners with contracts paid by the Waikato DHB via the hospital, which takes a 30% cut (but shouldn't do so) for the privilege, yet those businesses still manage to provide the service better than the hospital does and also return a profit. I know the service is better because a family member has been a patient of both, for the same treatment. I've been in both visiting the family member.

I also know ground floor workers at the hospital who have told me of the inefficient decisions made by management because they are too far removed from the actual work.

At the hospital there are good workers and surgeons who are put under stress due to management decisions. Here is an example, surgeon doing surgery, there are complications so the surgery goes late into the night. The surgeon is scheduled to work again at 8am the next day, despite getting 4-6 hours sleep the overnight. Would you want be the patient on the operating table at 8am?

I had better clarify that these experiences and events told to me were under a previous CEO. The headline is misleading, it's not so much a pay increase, but a part payment for last year's work that was paid this year along with this year's salary. So the headline sensationalised the truth. I'ved moved out of the Waikato region since the last DHB elections so not fully up with the play for this calendar year. Maybe the current CEO deserves his pay?.

elpenguino

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Reply # 1855008 29-Aug-2017 23:04

Fred99:

Chair of the Waikato DHB is an ex National Party MP. I presume he was appointed by Minister Coleman.

Errr, do the people of Waikato not get to vote for their DHB members like the people of my area?

Kiwifruta

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Reply # 1855009 29-Aug-2017 23:07

elpenguino:
Fred99:

Chair of the Waikato DHB is an ex National Party MP. I presume he was appointed by Minister Coleman.

Errr, do the people of Waikato not get to vote for their DHB members like the people of my area?

Yes we did vote for the members.

Kiwifruta

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Reply # 1855011 29-Aug-2017 23:09

Batman:
It's state funded, not state run - the organization is run like a business isn't it? Sack all the kitchen staff to save half a dollar here and there just so the CEO can get a 100k pay rise?

Had you seen the food there? I would have gotten ill, if I had to live on it for a week.

Batman

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Reply # 1855018 29-Aug-2017 23:25

Fred99:

Batman:

It's state funded, not state run - the organization is run like a business isn't it? Sack all the kitchen staff to save half a dollar here and there just so the CEO can get a 100k pay rise?

Chair of the Waikato DHB is an ex National Party MP. I presume he was appointed by Minister Coleman.

Nice to think it's not state run, but the board approves CE remuneration. It's a back-scratching game.

What I meant was, the DHB is given X dollars to spend.

In comparison to a private company "earning" X dollars.

Most of the money goes to the top few decision makers, who, presumably are only interested in getting the biggest cut, and there is no money to feed the rest of the pyramid.

Fred99

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Reply # 1855053 30-Aug-2017 07:04

Kiwifruta:
elpenguino:

Fred99:

Chair of the Waikato DHB is an ex National Party MP. I presume he was appointed by Minister Coleman.

Errr, do the people of Waikato not get to vote for their DHB members like the people of my area?

Yes we did vote for the members.

Yes - you have the opportunity to vote for elected members. Voter turnout is abysmal.

Some DHB members are always appointees.

There's a list here of DHB members.

As I said, the Waikato DHB chairperson and deputy were appointed (or reappointed) by the Minister. The chair is an ex National Party MP.

Fred99

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Reply # 1855055 30-Aug-2017 07:12

Batman:

Fred99:

Batman:

It's state funded, not state run - the organization is run like a business isn't it? Sack all the kitchen staff to save half a dollar here and there just so the CEO can get a 100k pay rise?

Chair of the Waikato DHB is an ex National Party MP. I presume he was appointed by Minister Coleman.

Nice to think it's not state run, but the board approves CE remuneration. It's a back-scratching game.

What I meant was, the DHB is given X dollars to spend.

In comparison to a private company "earning" X dollars.

Most of the money goes to the top few decision makers, who, presumably are only interested in getting the biggest cut, and there is no money to feed the rest of the pyramid.

I don't think so. While CE remuneration might be apparently high, the overall budget is at least many hundreds of millions, a few hundred thousand for executive salaries is neither here nor there. Same argument used to justify very high CE salaries in the private sector. Often the same crap seems to happen, with underperformers being rewarded.

geekiegeek

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Reply # 1855131 30-Aug-2017 09:40

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I would vote for any party that ran on a platform of removing the DHBs and centralizing health. DHBs are just little kingdom building exercises that waste money by replicating services across regions. An example is DHBs choosing different ICT systems from each other so there is no way information can be easily shared and no savings through bulk purchase. Why each DHB needs a full ICT team with their own data centers etc is beyond me for a country of <5 Million.

This would also get rid of all of these "elected" board members.

When you live your life on Twitter and Facebook, and are only friends with like minded people on Twitter and Facebook, you are not living in the real world. You are living in a narcissistic echo chamber.

My thoughts are my own and are in no way representative of my employer.

Batman

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Reply # 1855318 30-Aug-2017 15:18

geekiegeek:
I would vote for any party that ran on a platform of removing the DHBs and centralizing health. DHBs are just little kingdom building exercises that waste money by replicating services across regions. An example is DHBs choosing different ICT systems from each other so there is no way information can be easily shared and no savings through bulk purchase. Why each DHB needs a full ICT team with their own data centers etc is beyond me for a country of <5 Million.

This would also get rid of all of these "elected" board members.

Under the guise of "creating jobs" perhaps?

I would argue that the NHS appears to be a big fail but is the NHS centralised?

scuwp

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Reply # 1855330 30-Aug-2017 15:36

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I can only assume that despite the current controversy he met all of his clearly defined and measurable KPI's for the term therefore they are legally obligated to remunerate him as per his contract?

Always be yourself, unless you can be Batman, then always be the Batman

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