The childhood immunisation register should be expanded to include general health information as part of efforts to protect vulnerable children, Southern District Health Board member Kaye Crowther told a health committee yesterday.
The DHB's draft submission on the Government's green paper to protect vulnerable children was discussed at the joint disability support and community and public health advisory committee.
Mrs Crowther said for years the Privacy Act had been misinterpreted, preventing useful information-sharing. The law might need changing to stop that, and people also needed more education about privacy laws, she said.
New Zealand had good immunisation records, thus it made sense to develop the immunisation register to be a wider record and resource for children's health.
Committee member Sandra Cook disagreed, saying that if the immunisation register was broadened immunisation rates could drop.
She favoured working within current privacy law, using incentives for people to voluntarily surrender aspects of their privacy through signing up to programmes. She valued her privacy and would not wish to see it eroded through law changes.
Committee member Mary Flannery took issue with the way the draft submission was compiled, as it reflected a wide range of staff views, and there was a risk the DHB would be seen as endorsing contradictory or differing views.
She said it showed the potential pitfalls of a proposal the committee had earlier considered, to allow staff members to make submissions without needing board or committee approval.
Rather than approve the proposal, staff were asked to draft the policy showing which submissions would trigger board or committee approval and how the system would work.
Mrs Flannery said any such policy needed to be carefully considered, because it risked the DHB's name going on submissions the board did not endorse.
Funding and finance general manager Robert Mackway-Jones said committee members needed to consider their definition of a district health board in deciding if staff views could be put forward without the explicit permission of the board.
