Minister out of line, says probe member
A member of the panel that investigated a hospital mortuary's loss of a baby's body criticised health minister York Chow Yat-ngok yesterday for shifting blame onto the panel and forgetting his own responsibility.
The Reverend Chu Yiu-ming said it was 'unfair and inappropriate' for Dr Chow to express disappointment publicly that the panel had been unable to find all the facts.
On Tuesday the panel released its investigation report, which revealed that a mortuary technician at Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital had lied about when he last saw the baby's body and when its loss was reported. The report, however, could not ascertain how the body was lost and its whereabouts.
Dr Chow issued a press statement that night saying he was 'disappointed the investigation panel was unable to establish the actual occurrence of events'.
Mr Chu said Dr Chow's comment was a criticism of the panel's competency.
'It is not only my personal feeling, other people also share my views,' he said. 'Dr Chow has confused his role. He is a politically accountable official who should have apologised to the public for the poor management and culture at the mortuary.
'Instead, he just told the public that he was disappointed with the panel. He has shifted the public disappointment onto the panel.
'What he said is inappropriate and unfair. It is also disrespect to us.'
The mortuary technician who lied was sacked on Thursday, a penalty Dr Chow has said the technician 'deserved'.
Mr Chu said Dr Chow has been trying to distance himself from the blunder.
'He comes out just to criticise the frontline staff. How about any responsibility he should bear,' Mr Chu said. 'While we found a culture among mortuary workers of shifting responsibilities to others, Dr Chow is in fact the best example of this culture.'
Mr Chu said the panel members had done their best and had revealed that the incident was a cover-up.
'The panel members have faced intense public pressure to find an answer, especially after we learned that someone had lied,' he said. 'But when someone chose not to tell the truth, we could do nothing about it.'
In response to Mr Chu's criticism, Dr Chow's spokesman said last night that the secretary 'believes the investigation panel has tried to the best of their ability to uncover the facts'.
'He is disappointed that the actual occurrence of events that led to the incident could not be found as there is mortuary staff not telling the truth,' the spokesman said.
'He believes appropriate punishment should be handed down to the staff who have made mistakes in the case. Dr Chow also urged the staff concerned to have the courage to honestly reveal the facts of how the baby's body was lost.'
Another panel member, Cheung Tak-hai, who is chairman of the Alliance for Patients' Mutual Help Organisations, said he was not offended by Dr Chow's comments.
Mr Cheung said he had done his best in the investigation and he did not feel guilty for not being able to uncover all the facts.
