For the year ending
April 2014 the Nelson Brain Injury association received over $100,000
in funding from various sources which included $22,178 from the local
Health Board. People, often with severe
brain damage and receiving care from the Health Board participate in
most of the member activities of the BIA.
The BIA has more than once demonstrated and acknowledged issues of governance. One of which
is the harassment of a previous staff member by Russ Aiton (see BIA:
Sacked the victim kept the bully below). It has a weak committee
unable or unwilling to advocate forcefully on behalf of it's membership.
Many of the
committee are unknown to the BIA membership and unaware of their
concerns. Committee meetings have difficulty achieving a quorum. Joy
Aiton is employed by the Health Board, is partner of Russ Aiton and
is vice chair of the BIA. I suspect* that both attend committee
meetings and have failed to declared any 'conflicts of interest' or
to withdraw from participation even when the matters of bullying by
Russ and the terminating of his victim's employment were considered.
The BIA's contract with the health board contributes significantly to their income and I believe that their primary (only?) concern is
continued funding.
I suspect that Joy
Aiton has used her employer's funding either implicitly or explicitly
to influence and protect Russ's continued employment in a position
created for him but not advertised? Even if this is not the case, it
is inappropriate that the circumstances to support this suspicion
appear to exist and continue to do so.
*
attempts to verify these suspicions have been
rejected at every turn by the BIA.
Dear Don,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your email and we note the contents and intention. As you are proposing to make a formal complaint to the Nelson Marlborough District Health Board and have advised us of that fact, we determine that a response to you is appropriate.
You are incorrect in your assumptions, may we supply you with the facts as a matter of record;
1/ The Brain Injury Association (Nelson) Inc does not receive any funding from the Nelson Marlborough District Health Board. The funding to which you refer to in your most recent “blog” and proposed letter of complaint is actually funds received via a Ministry of Health Contract. This is a National (centrally funded) Contract and the funds are received on-behalf of by BIA Auckland and distributed to the regions each month.
2/ A Conflict of Interest declaration has already been lodged with the NMDHB by Joy Aiton before she formally accepted the position of Vice-Chair
3/ A Conflict of Interest Declaration has already been lodged with the NMDHB by Joy Aiton, when the Committee considered using PDSS staff as potential Facilitators for activity groups
4/ Both 2/ and 3/ were accepted by the General Manager DSS and thus noted in the appropriate professional and transparent manner as required by NMDHB protocols.
5/ No formal complaint has ever been submitted, by anyone, to the BIA Committee regarding either Joy or Russ Aiton during their tenure with BIA Nelson.
Further, we would add that to include reference(s) to your “blog” in the same context as your proposed complaint, to seemingly simply and crudely widen the readers knowledge of the further comments made by you, against the BIA Nelson, with no relation to your “complaint”, is at best nothing more than malicious and ultimately detrimental to the Brain Injury Association Nelson and to yourself and your partner; as the grounds for comments on which you continually refer in to your “blogs” are also misconstrued and based on spurious conjecture by person or persons associated either currently or previously with BIA Nelson and are hearsay comments rather than actual facts.
We would advise you to check your facts before committing to a formal complaint and desist from emotive conjecture bordering (now) on defamation.
We would ask you, in light of the above points, to reconsider submitting your proposed complaint.
However, should you still feel it necessary to submit your complaint as presented to the NMDHB, even after being presented with the rebuttal of facts, then you are absolutely entitled to do so.
(As we are unable to respond by letter in good time prior to your intention in posting this tomorrow, we felt it prudent to respond via email. We have asked for a delivery and read receipt which we would be grateful if you could complete so that we know you have read this email prior to you intending to post. Thank you.)
Regards,
PP John Sauer
BIA Chair
The Brain Injury Association Committee (Nelson)
BIA Nelson, PO Box 1419, Nelson 7010
Tel: 03 546 6656