Culture of Concealments in Australia and Jersey

Jersey is not the only place to have a "culture of concealment". It is interesting how the following crops up:

 

a) it is not isolated, but pervasive, permeating the whole bureaucracy

b) it occurs on a governmental and bureaucratic level (politicians and civil servants)

c) it is "top down", with those further down encouraged to be complicit

d) complaints are suppressed, because they don't look good on the departmental CV

 

 

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The "Queensland Public Hospitals Commission of Inquiry Final Report" makes interesting reading, especially where it notes that:

 

It is one thing to identify isolated instances of concealment. It is quite another if the disposition to conceal existed at a high level throughout the relevant period and was pervasive, encouraging others in leadership positions within hospitals to themselves conceal facts.

 

Successive governments followed a practice of concealment and suppression of relevant information with respect to elective surgery waiting lists and measured quality reports. This, in turn, encouraged a similar practice by Queensland Health staff.

6.718 Queensland Health itself, by its principal officers Dr Buckland and Dr FitzGerald, implemented a policy of concealment and suppression of events, the exposure of which were potentially harmful to the reputation of Queensland Health and the government.

6.719 The conduct of officers of Queensland Health, together with its strict approach to surgical budget targets enforced by penalties, led to similar practices in hospitals, especially with respect to complaints about quality of service and it also led to threats of reprisal in some cases. These caused suppression of complaints which ought to have been exposed earlier.

6.720 In my view it is an irresistible conclusion that there is a history of a culture of concealment within and pertaining to Queensland Health.