To anyone considering joining a government department , when you start, the first thing you will be issued with will be a desk, a chair and a single-page document setting out how to deal with complaints. If the complaint is from a member of the public, tell him or her that the complaint needs to be referred to a different department and file it. If it is more serious and has reached the public, admit that errors were made, apologise to all concerned and say that “the department has upgraded its processes to prevent such errors happening again”.
After that, life can go on as before. I first came across that with a health board some 60 years ago and have been reading and hearing the same thing ever since. For those who may not believe me, please read the front-page article ( Weekend Herald , November 2) regarding the Health and Disability Commissioner’s response to Madison Ashton regarding Philip Polkinghorne.
Gerald Payman, Mt Albert..
