Hon Michael Woodhouse
National Party Spokesperson for Health

16 April 2018

Minister needs to answer questions on Middlemore

Documents provided to the Minister of Health David Clark as released by media today raise serious questions about whether the Minister misled New Zealanders about his knowledge of problems at Middlemore Hospital.

“Given these documents, it is simply not believable for the Minister to claim not to have been briefed by the DHB about wider building issues after he visited Middlemore in early March to inspect the Scott Building,” National Party Health spokesperson Michael Woodhouse says.

“The Minister of Health has been asked questions about his knowledge of the problems at Middlemore for some time now and these documents indicate that he would have known more than he’s admitted.

“These documents clearly indicate that the Minister was briefed as early as October and not only took no action at that time but claimed not to have been informed of the issues.

“This raises serious questions of whether the Minister has misled the media, Parliament and the public, and I think they are owed an urgent explanation.”

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