19th November 2008

Tuesdays nights is often a Spagalimis pizza and a few vinos with a group of wine buffs whose lifestyle and viewpoint on life vary as much as the bottles of wine scattering the table at the end of the evening. Last evening a heated discussion arose about sensational media coverage blowing things out of proportion. The specifics which started the debate was a Press story on a large sum of money spent by Canterbury Health on a bash to farewell the Chief Executive which was attended by 170 people. One friend who runs a fairly large business thought nothing wrong with this, that such expenditure was a drop in the bucket in proportion to the overall hospital budget and that it was good for staff morale, the whole thing was a press beat up. Another wondered how many of the 170 were actual employees and if they were, how many were from the lower feeders in the organisation which could do with some morale building.

Having worked in an industry which was funded by public money, I saw immense wastage. Having said that I also had a couple of bosses who worked on the philosophy that before making an expenditure decision, think first and ask the question "if it were coming out of your own pocket would you make the same decision?". The CEO's bash might be just a drop in the bucket, but if that same ethos pervades throughout the organisation, a few drops quickly cover the bottom and start to come up the sides. The hospital which sucks up money like a sponge could do with the bureaucrats taking a longer look at their actions. If those in charge of the Hospital purse strings thought so well of their departing CEO, perhaps they should have dipped into their own pockets to send him on his way. They get paid well enough!

TC