Lets just hope for all concerned that true justice prevails in this very sorry affair. Imagine the impact that this dragged out process is having on Mr. Pervans health, and that of his extended family. The morale at the RHH must surely be in tatters, as the one person making positive changes in dealing with the hospitals entrenched problems is no longer at the helm.  My last very detailed comment to the Mercury in response to yesterdays article on this issue was not published,  possibly because it was a little too close to the truth, because it was from one who has been there, and knows how things are done.

There seems to be something dreadfully wrong here resulting from too many personality clashes, in house fighting and singular bureaucratic interpertations of the State Public Service Act dealing with events among the strong minded mandarins within the DHHS attempting to conduct their own finger pointing investigation tactics. It has now reached the point where the investigation into the alleged bullying by Mr Pervan needs to be dealt with by the recently appointed Integrity Commission and not by a kangaroo court within DHHS. Public Health Care at the Royal is urgently in need of every capable health professional to move foward by providing the best outcomes for hard working and devoted staff working at the coal face in order to give their best with public patient care. Premier Bartlett can expect a visit next week from Prime Minister Gillard who will no doubt give him one hell of a shake up on Public Health issues where Federal funding is involved, especially with his lateness applying for Federal funding to improve the facilities at the RHH. By now the DHHS needs to be working in unison to ensure with the recently appointed “independent” RHH Board concept by Health Minister Michelle O’ Byrne is given every chance to succeed and not fail on the weighted bureaucracy apparent at present.

Re #1
Please feel free to post your very detailed comment here. I’m sure it will get the air it needs.

Something dreadfully wrong indeed and terribly, terribly sad!!!

The fact that this happens in a department charged with health care is an outrage.

I am dismayed and disgusted at the patent lack of integrity displayed by the people charged with the responsibility and authority to prevent such travesties occurring.

While i would like to continue to hope for real justice for Mr Pervan and RHH, as many have said about the cronyism and the way things are done in the corridors of power in this state, I am afraid i have very, very little confidence or hope of such an outcome.

I too feel ashamed. It is (still) the ordinary people at the coal face who have my admiration, our elected representatives and their appointed bureaucrats have my disgust.

If i only i could think of an effective way to protest that they might actually feel…..

It is clear to me, as a HR Professional for the past 30 years involved in many investigations over those years and having a reasonably detailed knowledge of this situation that this is a politically motivated outcome.

It lacks the integrity that I had presumed would come from someone who is propertied to be free of political influence and therefore throws into doubt any integrity the newly established Integrity Commission would hope to have as one of the new commissioners has I feel been compromised in this decision. I can only hope that Mr Pervan does challenge this in the Supreme Court and that for the sake of truth this is funded by the Tasmanian People as the contrary position is so funded. The issue is one of truth and justice.

It is very clear from a cursory look at the facts that natural justice is not present in the process undertaken to date.

I am very disappointed by our democracy in Tasmania for it is clear that cronyism is the order of the day.

The time has come for political action as the Labor Party and Green party are both compromised by this outcome. I can never condone the blatant persecution of anyone in our society however it is apparent that Ms Giddings, Mr Bartlett and Mr McKim are of the same mould and self-interest is the guiding principle.

I am in despair for our future as a human and just society ..........where can we go now?...............

While I have not followed this case in minute detail and therefore cannot comment on the specifics of this case.  I can say that as a former senior employee of the Tasmanian hospital system for over twenty five years, I worked in three of the four major public hospitals and have seen such behavior several times before.

In at least one major hospital I worked at every major decision made in the ten years I worked there was made with an eye to the outcome of the next state election and gaining or losing seats in the electorate. 

Within months I learned that the enemy was down south and was not to be trusted.  Frequently stories were leaked to the local newspaper by both medical and administrative staff.  Medical stories were mostly buffered by named and ‘tragic’ case appearing on the front page with and indignant editorial followed by the publication of selective angry vox pop letter writing campaign.  While the administrative staff used elections to beef up their staff numbers and secure greater and greater levels of funding often for small pet projects. 

Over several years several senior staff were set up and destroyed all too frequently because they were identified with one or other political party. 

The same behavior was seen just as clearly “down south” both major hospitals there has been a long history of self interest and game playing that has cost this state untold millions of wasted dollars frequently by selfish medical staff demanding unnecessary duplications of equipment and facilities that benefited them every bit as much as they ever did the patients. 

Again and again undue pressure was been brought to bear by the regional hospitals in election years.  This was usually done by the creation of a so called medical/patient/overcrowding/ low moral etc etc a crisis can always be manufactured or discovered in our hospitals.

Whatever the crisis (The save the Royal Campaign is a perfect example it ran during at least three elections beaten up by the Liberals)  it would be supported by the parochial and all too often partisan states newspaper papers.

It was a brave or very foolish manager who put her or his head above the parapet because it was sure to have been very rapidly blown off. 

In my time in the Tasmanian health system a decent objective caring and rational hospital/nursing manager had a shorter life expectancy than a junior officer on the Somme.

So the DHHS policy appears to be to initiate a disciplinary inquiry against the CEO every time a doctor dislikes his decisions without even asking for the CEO’s side of the story.  Given that it is the CEO’s job to manage the budget and allocate finite resources between fiercely competing medical specialities and ensure those resources are efficiently utilized how can he possibly perform his job? It’s clear that DHHS and the government intend to remove Pervan (it would save a lot of time if they just sacked him instead of persisting with his ham fisted public torture via kangaroo court) but where does that leave the Royal? Who in their right mind would want the job now? Certainly no one with any skill or integrity. The only person for the job now is someone who will appease the DHHS - only question is whether that person will come from the NHS or among the ranks of the disgruntled RHH doctors who believe they are born to rule.

#7 While there are some doctors who realize that a medical/surgical degree does not place them in a superior position over every other para-medical, nursing and professional disciplines they are, even today, still in a minority.

Frequently doctors are all too often highly belligerent demanding and as a profession extremely arrogant and disparaging of every other discipline. 

This self-righteous belief and associated behaviour will not change until there is reform of medical schools where arrogance and paternalism are not taught (anymore) but neither are they discouraged too many doctors still think that"Doctor knows best” about everything.
Equally the AMA and the Royal Colleges (which are the most powerful and unregulated trade unions in Australia) need reform because self regulation of the profession is bad for our health and our national/state wealth.

Re #7 and #8
I think you’re chasing the wrong tails. It’s a “Government appointment” isn’t it? That’s where the antagonism has come from,isn’t it?

It’s also been my experience that almost all the medical doctors I have ever had any personal professional involvement with have been very decent and caring people. I can only think of one I didn’t like, and that was due to his manner. Other than that his medical skills were good.