An 11-month gap in holding legally mandated public meetings at Southern District Health Board was because the commissioner's focus was on other matters, Health Minister Jonathan Coleman's office says.
Senior ministerial adviser Peter McCardle has responded under the Official Information Act to a question about whether the delay was a breach of the New Zealand Public Health and Disability Act.
"I am advised there was a delay in setting up the committees due to the priority and focus at the time the commissioner took office being on achieving as much as possible in a limited timeframe.
"The Minister of Health is pleased that these forums have now been established.''
Last month, commissioner Kathy Grant said the committees would have been held earlier in an "ideal world''.
Statutory committees are a standard part of DHB structure and are still required under a commissioner regime.
The board has been governed by a commissioner since the middle of last year, but meetings only resumed last month.
In a column published in The Star yesterday, Mrs Grant said recent weeks had been a "time of reflection'' on the progress made since her team took the reins a year ago.
