Feb 12 - GSD Highlights Government Criticisms of GHA Complaints System
The response by the Minister for Health to the criticism of blatant cronyism in the appointment of so many GSLP activists to the GHA Complaints Panel is just another example of how this so called ‘New Dawn’ Government has paid lip service to its transparency agenda as if they never stood on the “time for change” ticket at the last election, claims the Opposition.
In response to the Government statement on the GHA Complaints Panel, the GSD has insisted that the Government ‘spent four years criticising the GHA appointment system in relation to this same panel, complaining that the process was subject to political interference and that it was not truly independent’. They add, ‘now that they are in Government, they cynically forget about those criticisms and proceed to appoint a list of people, who with some exceptions, reads like the who’s who of GSLP activists.’
The party notes that when in Opposition, the Government claimed that they were not convinced by the GHA Complaints legislation insisting that the external complaints procedure of the GHA should be in the hands of the Ombudsman.
A GSD statement released this morning adds, ‘in the premises, of how Mr. Cortes can defend the appointments on the grounds that the Ombudsman chooses any team that considers complaints is beyond us. Indeed, the Government’s own manifesto commitment is that “Complaints will be dealt with directly by the office of the Ombudsman”. Clearly any system can be improved, but it is not the system that is wrong. It is the sheer political manipulation of that system by the Government in the appointment of so many GSLP activists to it that is wrong, compounded by the sheer hypocrisy they have shown given their policy when in Opposition.’
