Why must hospital CEOs be vetted by the NIA?
The Health Department has issued an instruction to all senior managers in the health system, including hospital CEOs and heads of facilities such as Forensic Chemistry labs, to submit themselves to vetting by the National Intelligence Agency (NIA).
Especially given the quantity and depth of personal knowledge that the NIA is demanding, this seems a serious intrusion into the personal space of these employees. There is no more reason why the head of a hospital should be vetted by the NIA than the CEO of any private sector company. The state simply does not have a right to do this and it sets an extremely worrying trend.
The NIA is increasingly acting as a law unto itself, and increasingly claiming the right to obtain private information for no obvious purpose. It needs to explain why these personal details are being demanded and what it intends to use this information for.
While any employee needs to be vetted to some degree, to determine that the information they have provided is correct and that they really can do the job they are applying for, the information the NIA is demanding goes far beyond any reasonable requirements for information - particularly as it is demanding information on friends and family as well.
Among other things, the NIA is demanding that senior managers supply details of:
- Intimate details on the person's health;
- Every country that he or she has visited in the past five years;
- Every previous job the person has held; and
- The names and contact details of all living family members.
Statement issued by Mike Waters, MP, Democratic Alliance shadow minister of health, March 8 2010
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