Northern Territory Health Bureaucracy Blowout

The current organisational chart from the Department of Health reveals that the Divisional Structure of the Department has grown from 44 senior positions to 57 senior positions, an increase of 24%, according to Shadow Minister for Health, Dr Richard Lim.

"The growth areas appear to be in Information Services and Financial Services, a function that has been centralised to the Department of Corporate and Information Services (DCIS), but appears to have been duplicated by Health,” Dr Lim said.

"The structure under the Chief Information Officer has grown from 6 managers to 9 directors and managers.

"The Chief Financial Officer has grown 5 managers. That was five more that were listed in last year's flow chart.

"The real concern is that the General Managers of our hospitals no longer directly report to the CEO of Health. They must now report through an Assistant Secretary (Acute Care Services), a person who has no health training. This means that the CEO is becoming increasingly remote and what is more concerning is that it interposes an extra level of bureaucracy between the coal face and the Minister.

"New additions also include a Director for Coordination and Planning, a Ministerial Liaison Manager and a Media and Communications Director.

"What is a Ministerial Liaison Manager and how does that relate to the Media and Communications Director?” Dr Lim asked today.

"Last time I checked that was called a telephone which the CEO can pick up to talk to the Minister. Now it takes a team of people to organise a conversation between the CEO and the Minister. A Media and Communications Director indicates to me that the Health Department is worried about how it appears in public. The answer doesn't appear to be improving services so much as it appears to be improving spin.

"This Department has been growing at a phenomenal rate. Blowing budgets by tens of millions of dollars has become synonymous with its name. What I would have liked to see is a Director for Making Sick People Better, but sadly no. What we get from the Martin Labor Government is a Ministerial Liaison Manager to advise the Minister so that he can make bad news look good.”

2006-05-10