Groups to 'meet when necessary'

Health Minister Tony Ryall has distanced himself from criticism of the impact of his call for fewer committees providing advice to the Ministry of Health.

In her recent hard-hitting review of the national breast screening programme BreastScreen Aotearoa (BSA), Jennifer Muller said the advisory group structure for the programme was well established but group meetings had been "somewhat curtailed" in recent years due to the minister's directives.

"This does not recognise the importance of these groups as part of the quality management structure of the BSA programme."

Asked for comment, Mr Ryall issued a brief email statement saying some committees had been folded into others, with the same responsibilities.

"The Government's view is that they should meet when necessary.

"There's no proven link between the quality of a service and the number of times a committee meets."

Mrs Muller said the BSA advisory group had clearly outlined a range of frustrations and general dissatisfaction with the relationship between it and the National Screening Unit (NSU).

"There were strong concerns for the safety and quality of the BSA programme and the expressed view of `feeling unsafe'."

They felt their expertise and knowledge was not used or valued by the NSU.

Group members also expressed concern about the frequency and scheduling of meetings.

Mrs Muller considered with a well-planned agenda and meeting papers the group should be able to provide sufficient support to the NSU through two one-day, face-to-face meetings a year, with the option for out of session consideration of issues and documents and teleconferencing.

Mrs Muller made a series of recommendations to maintain and strengthen the roles of the groups responsible for quality oversight.

These included a suggestion to change the name of the BSA advisory group to BSA quality management committee to emphasise the group's key quality role.