This arrived today to me from NEHTA.
It was published – without RSS Announcement - on 10 September, 2009
Outcome statement of the Stakeholder Reference Forum
22 July 2009
Opening by Head of Strategy & E-Health Architecture
NEHTA Head of Strategy & E-Health Architecture Andrew Howard opened the meeting and updated the group on the work of the six Reference Groups to date.
NEHTA CEO Peter Fleming and NEHTA Clinical Director Leonie Katekar outlined how NEHTA’s new Clinical Unit will provide a clinical presence in each of the Reference Groups and have input in each phase of work.
Strategy overview
The key item for the meeting was discussion around the new NEHTA Strategic Plan.
Chief Executive NEHTA Peter Fleming announced details of the new NEHTA Strategy. Members were taken through the work done to date and asked for feedback and input, with the final strategy documents to go before the NEHTA Board for sign off. The Strategy will be published on the NEHTA website once finalised.
There was considerable discussion around the proposed NEHTA mission and vision and consensus reached on changes to ensure they both accurately reflected NEHTA’s role and purpose.
Members were provided with an overview of the four key strategic priority areas, derived from the list of recommendations made to NEHTA. Each priority area is underpinned by a set of strategic initiatives, articulating specific activity required.
Strategy workshops
Four small discussion groups took place providing the opportunity to further discuss what had been presented and to provide feedback. Points raised from each group were noted and will be incorporated into the documents to be reviewed by the NEHTA Board. Overall feedback from members was that the work was a good step forward by NEHTA.
2009 SRF meeting dates:
Out of Session Meeting 1 September 1009
Regular Meeting: 18 November 2009
This was published after the next secret meeting is said to have been held!
Just where is any information in this statement? It is just a total load of c..p. Why can’t the public be provided with any information? What is wrong with these turkeys? Just why does it take six weeks to publish a 1 page useless minute do you think? No wonder the progress in e-Health in Australia is glacial with these nitwits in charge!
Talk about the minutes you publish when you don't want anyone to know what you are doing!
This organisation needs to be replaced and soon! They are just clueless and NEHTA has learnt just nothing since the last CEO and other appointments.
David.
21 comments:
David, the 'turkeys' at NEHTA are the people who have the responsibility for communicating with the outside world. Fleming has at least defined a strategy, and appears to be making an effort to get the message out there. He is evidently not a good communicator, which makes the failure of the people whom he has appointed to be NEHTA's mouthpiece even more unforgiveable. I don't agree that NEHTA should be replaced, because if you work with the organisation you will find that it contains many talented people who are doing some pretty fine work on behalf of the Australian taxpayer. As for the suits in the corner offices, well, I think you have the evidence before you.
We have now had almost six years of NEHTA secrecy, obfuscation and ineptness under three CEO's. At what point to we blow it up and start again. If the people are so talented why have they not persuaded their leadership to improve?
BCG said major change was needed, Delottes said the same so what is wrong here? Your guess is as good as mine but on the evidence in front of us we have a pretty dysfuctional and less than useful organisation.
There is so much that could have been shared outside the 'cone of silence' where others could have helped. What we got was a very delayed zilch!
Oh and BTW we have a National E-Health Strategy..so what is this all about? Imagining ongoing strategic importance into the future in the light of a COAG agreed plan for the future?
And after six years just which taxpayer has had the health or safety improved by NEHTA's existence? Send us their name!
David.
Agree with Anonymous Sept 17 7:49. And David, the talented folk doing good work within NeHTA have failed to convince 'the suits', or redirect the work program or make any tangible and measurable improvements because they are doing THEIR OWN JOB, as their employment contracts probably stipulate. They're not there to 'manage up'. The 'blame' for organisational (non?)-performance should be slated home to senior management and the NeHTA Board. We all know that in any power relationship (especially boss-worker), bad news does NOT travel up.
What is NEHTA’s new clinical unit?
You use the words ‘turkeys’, ‘nitwits’, ‘c..p’, and ‘clueless’. Not a good look - too emotional. You would do better with a Voodoo Doll and some needles. The one NEHTA’s got seems to be working just fine.
David, I share your frustration and rage. I am amazed at how NEHTA people continue to be allowed to stand up at conferences and give one presentation after another about why eHealth will be a good thing when it happens, and show complicated diagrams of all the great things that NEHTA is going to do - always in the future tense, but without any actual useable output to date that patients or working health professionals can see and use.
You are not alone.
NEHTA has a new strategic plan. This has to be a good sign don’t you think? It must have been put together by, or under the direction of, the Head of Strategy, Andrew Howard. If NEHTA is now seeking “feedback and input” (same thing) before it gets Board sign-off then surely you would agree that too is a good thing.
You should find it reassuring that the members’ feedback was that the work was a good step forward by NEHTA.
“Why does it take six weeks to publish a 1 page useless minute do you think?”
Good question. How about because they have nothing else to say? or They are a bit disorganised? or They are very slow? or They forgot to publish it earlier? or The person responsible went away on holiday? or Because the Head of Strategy didn’t want you to know about it until now? Take your pick.
Some of you are missing the point. This report of the Stakeholder Reference Forum should have provided a detailed overview of what the strategy was being developed for, what issues were being addressed and what the key issues were that were being discussed. It is as simple as that.
What we got was simply not good enough for a publicly funded entity that has real responsibilities to communicate with ALL its stakeholders.
David.
You called them “secret meetings”. You must be an Enid Blyton fan. Should we send in The Secret Seven?
Maybe David but hey you should know that’s how strategy sessions work. Breakout sessions, butchers paper, all wrapped up in a consensus ribbon and then presented to the Board for approval. Only after that can it be made public for the likes of you to comment upon. If you like it so much the better, if you don’t who cares, you’re outnumbered by the huddle. Only then will you know whether huddle and muddle are synonymous or not.
While it is true that Nehta has some bright people, none of them has a grasp of the overall landscape and while they may be expert in their own narrow area they cannot join the dots to see the ultimate solution.
We continue to see plans that want to radically change the way things are done with no workable plan to cross the swamp that lies between our present position and their castle in the air.
Imposing solutions from on high are bound to fail, and we would be better off without Nehta. They have been in the way from the start. In reality they should not be replaced, but existing standards development should funded and the proven standards mandated.
The main problem is clearly at the CEO and Board Level. Having appointed 3 CEOs that have all appeared to want NEHTA to operate without proper community feedback, let alone involvement, the NEHTA Board should surely be seen as culpable.
But since the members of the NEHTA Board ( or their predecessors ) created the NEHTA Board and appointed themselves as Directors, whilst wearing only slightly different coloured hats, there is almost no hope for change.
All the answers are available in this blog? I think not...
All the best minds in Australia read this blog? I think not...
However, why don't you make yourselves known, approach, and work with NEHTA instead of bagging the organisation? Yes they make mistakes, Yes they have issues, but surely if we "experts" want change then help don't hinder.
Whining isn't going to help.
I am known and contactable..and they never call.. Why is that do you think?
I think it is because they don't want to discuss anything with anyone who might put a different view.
Insular, narrow, blinkered and secretive. Pretty hopeless in my view!
David.
Probably due to your level of negativity of the organisation. Will your comments be useful, helpful? On past history perhaps not.
Unsure why they haven't been in touch.
And how do they know till they ask? Deloittes, Booze Allen, HISA, ACHI and others, including many readers here, find me useful. NEHTA seems to be the only people who are 'complete unto themselves' - which is of course rubbish!
And if you think NEHTA does not need someone to have a go at making them a bit less secretive and transparent you are off the planet!
David.
Nehta may not contact you David, but I bet they scan this blog every day. That's one good thing in their favour...
Deloittes & Booze Allen are more than happy to take other people's IP and use it to enrich their 'recommendations'. Those bozos charge a fortune to document what the NEHTA staff have been telling the higher-ups for years, and then pat them selves on the back for their intelligence.
The problems are well known, the issue simply appears to be the reluctance to break ground and get started on the implementation. Perhaps the NEHTA executive need financial incentive to meet implementation dates, and penalties if they miss. If they get paid either way, why not just spin? It's much easier
The inference in the comment Monday, September 21, 2009 11:22:00 AM ie. “what the NEHTA staff have been telling the higher-ups for years” suggests the higher-ups have not been listening to their NEHTA staff.
Well, how amazing is this? It suggests that all along the NEHTA staff have known exactly what was needed but the higher-ups wouldn’t listen and now that some consultants have come along to say what is needed the NEHTA staff feel they have been vindicated.
Al I can say to that is - if the NEHTA staff have been so smart but unable to get the higher-ups to listen then:
(a) what have the NEHTA staff been doing if no-one would listen to them?,
and
(b) any competent self respecting human being would have got out of there quick smart.
Whichever way you look at it the whole thing has a putrid smell to it. Any private sector entity would have folded a long time ago.
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