Excerpt from summary
Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier received a protected disclosure which raised concerns about contractors working at a specific hospital without the requisite safety checks being conducted pursuant to the Children’s Act 2014 (Children’s Act), and Children’s (Requirements for Safety Checks of Children’s Workers) Regulations 2015 (Regulations).
Mr Boshier referred the protected disclosure to Health New Zealand (Health NZ) to consider and address the concerns, and provide him with a detailed report back.
While Health NZ acknowledged there were issues, and were working to rectify them, the discloser remained concerned about the apparent lack of accountability for a situation that had occurred over the last nine years.
Mr Boshier then initiated an investigation under his own motion, into Health NZ’s compliance with the Children’s Act and Regulations. I assumed responsibility for this investigation after Mr Boshier’s term as Chief Ombudsman ended.
Based on the information before me, I have formed the opinion that Health NZ and a range of District Health Boards (including Bay of Plenty, Canterbury, Lakes, Nelson-Marlborough and Tairāwhiti) have acted contrary to law by failing to undertake checks required by the Children’s Act and Regulations.