Snowball 'failed to pass on advice about delays'
An independent review predicting delays to Fiona Stanley Hospital went to Cabinet in September last year - four months before the $2 billion facility was touted as "on time and on budget" ahead of the State election.
Despite the report and another two internal analyses that concluded the scheduled opening date of April next year could not be met, former Health director-general Kim Snowball continued to tell the Government it could open on time.
Mr Snowball was yesterday accused by a member of a parliamentary committee of being less than "open and frank" with the Government by selectively passing on advice which backed the original timetable.
The retired health chief told the education and health standing committee that experts from Britain's Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham told him in July last year that there was insufficient evidence to conclude FSH would open on time without "decisive action".
The report prompted him to restructure the hospital's commissioning, including appointing North Metropolitan Area Health Service boss David Russell-Weisz to work on it full-time.
Dr Russell-Weisz concluded in a December 8, 2012 report that IT problems would delay the opening by nine to 12 months, but Mr Snowball told the committee he didn't believe him.
He said he was not prepared to accept, on the basis of a report marked "confidential, draft and not for circulation", that the problems were insurmountable 17 months from the scheduled opening. A follow-up report by Dr Russell-Weisz on March 8 also predicted delays but revised them down to between six and nine months.
Committee member Janine Freeman said it was wrong of Mr Snowball to tell a Government task force on February 6 that the IT risks could be overcome. "You gave them the advice you wanted to give them," she said.
Chairman Graham Jacobs told Mr Snowball there appeared to be a "litany of advice stacked against you" and asked him whether history had proved Dr Russell-Weisz correct.
The hospital will open six months late next October in stages and its full commissioning will be a year late. Mr Snowball said he had a lot of advice and it was his job as director-general to make a judgment call on the evidence.
"I want to utterly refute the conspiracy theory that I failed to inform Government or central agencies about delays to FSH prior to the last election," he said.
Shadow health minister Roger Cook said the Birmingham report amounted to independent evidence that the Government's "on time and on budget" election description was inaccurate.
