Dr Ananya Mandal, MD
The Auditor General’s report on the Queensland health pay bungle revealed an “unprecedented failure of public administration in Queensland” a day after two senior bureaucrats lost their jobs.
According to the Queensland Public Sector Union the politicians must come forth to take up the responsibility. QPSU general secretary Alex Scott felt Health Minister Paul Lucas needed to own up. He asked, “Good governance and public integrity in Queensland relies on the notion of ministerial accountability…If this isn’t enough to justify the removal of a Minister, then what is?”
The report by Auditor General Glenn Poole was considered at the State Parliament today and it emphasizes that the decisions taken were erratic and there was complete confusion over the new computerized payroll system that has left tens of thousands of Queensland health care staff un paid, under or over paid since March this year. The report found that responsibilities for this huge error lay with Queensland Health, the Department of Public Works, IBM and Corptech. It criticized the $40 million system that was introduced without review or contingency plans. There were recommendations from the software creator that a parallel conventional pay system be maintained but these were largely ignored. There were also no arrangements for compensations. “Significant number of defects was identified” during the pilot testing phase, the report read however “tight timeframes” did not allow more detailed look at these errors before implementation. The project board was also advised in January to delay the implementation of the system only after all problems had been ironed out but the board chose to accept the risk.
Deputy director-general Michael Kalimnios and corporate services executive director Adrian Shea were last night served notices of contract termination over the ongoing debacle, ahead of the latest pay run results this week.
Implementing the new payroll system has so far cost $64.5 million. In addition, IBM has been paid a further $37.5 million for whole of Government investigation. Health Minister Paul Lucas will hold a media conference later today in response to the report.