A new fraud policy approved at the Otago District Health Board yesterday will be amended to cover the protocol to be followed if board members suspect fraud.
Board chairman Richard Thomson said the Otago Daily Times' report on the policy identified a gap in the plan.
The policy stipulated to whom staff should report suspected fraud and who would investigate, but did not set out what board members should do if they suspected fraud by another board member or the chairman.
If the suspect was the chairman and the reporting was to the chief executive, it would leave them to decide whether to take the matter to the Ministry of Health.
Board member Errol Millar agreed there was a need for a reporting system, although it might not appear to be an issue when things were right.
The board agreed to approve the policy, which was developed in conjunction with the Southland board.
But it has asked management to come up with an amendment, to be considered next month, covering the situation where board members or the chairperson might suspect each other of fraud.
