Hospital Consultant had serious concerns about integrity of Mr Pollard, CEO of Health

Recently retired Hospital Consultant, Dr Gil Blackwood, reveals he had raised serious concerns about the integrity of the Health service CEO, Mr Pollard, with the then Minister of Health, Senator Ben Shenton, and his Deputy, then Deputy Jimmy Perchard.

Dr Gil Blackwood had worked as a Consultant Psychiatrist since 2003 before his retirement in March 2008. In January 2008 he took his concerns to the recently appointed Minister of Health and his Deputy. Although his concerns covered a number of incidents, which Voice for Children may cover in depth at a later date, they focussed one specific serious allegation, which could be relatively easily checked.

This concerned the resignation of a deputy CEO of Health in December 2005. This resignation was announced in the JEP. Dr Blackwood is concerned that the Deputy CEO has told him that she had never resigned. According to the newspaper article their source was the then Minister of Health, Senator Stuart Syvret. According to Senator Syvret his source was Mr Pollard. Mr Pollard has been silent on his source.



Dr Blackwood left the meeting with the two Senators (Perchard and Shenton) expecting that they were going to check whether there was a letter of resignation, as both Senators had agreed that it was inconceivable that one had not existed. He still considers that the extensive doubts about this matter should be cleared up by locating that letter, if it exists..........or has it been shredded?