Chief Ombudsman Judge Peter Boshier has launched an investigation into a complaint about the secrecy of the contract that tied the Southern District Health Board to a 15-year food service contract with a multinational company.
The Otago Daily Times complained to the Office of the Ombudsman about heavy redactions in the 300-page contract. The Compass Group contract is managed by NZ Health Partnerships, which cited commercial sensitivity when it withheld the information.
The Office of the Ombudsman notified the ODT this week of Judge Boshier’s investigation. Dunedin South MP Clare Curran, who has campaigned for openness about the contract, was pleased with Judge Boshier’s decision to investigate the ODT’s complaint.
"Let’s hope the Ombudsman can shine the spotlight on what is clearly an issue of high public interest.
"The SDHB contract with Compass to provide hospital food and meals-on-wheels services to our region was very controversial at the time of signing.
"The proposed savings to our DHB depended on all 20 DHBs signing up to the Compass deal.
"Only six have signed and the actual contractual arrangements with Compass about how those savings would be achieved and whether our DHB would now be compromised should now be provided publicly," Ms Curran said.
The Ombudsman’s oversight was especially important at the SDHB, as that board no longer had elected members of the public to ask questions, she said.
"We are relying on the ability of the Ombudsman’s office to hold our DHB to account through requiring NZ Health Partnerships to publicly release the contract in a form that is not heavily redacted," Ms Curran said.
When the contract was released, most information about service requirements, pricing, termination, liability, exit clauses, minimum standards, remedies/procedures for failed key performance indicators and menus was withheld.
