B.C.'s former deputy minister of health, who resigned abruptly last June, says she quit because it wasn't clear she still had the government's support to make the tough decisions needed.

"When your minister is caught unawares, and ends up having to make a decision on the spot or under pressure without having been properly briefed, that's where you actually get decisions that don't serve government or the system or the public," Dr. Penny Ballem told the CBC in an interview on Wednesday.

Dr. Penny Ballem says decisions made after a "bad hair day" for the minister are not good for the health-care system.
(CBC file)

In her letter of resignation, Ballem said Premier Gordon Campbell's plans for health care were "unsound" and reflected a lack of confidence in her leadership, but gave no details.

But she began speaking out in recent weeks, getting into her specific concerns.

Last month, in a speech to a group of health-care professionals in Toronto, Ballem blasted government policy decisions made on the spur of the moment.

"Those decisions that get made two hours after question period, when it's been a bad hair day for the minister — or worse, the premier. And policy on the run is what across the developed world wrecks health-care systems," she said.

She told the group that it's important to have clear and coherent policies, backed up by solid facts.

Ballem said she stands by the reforms she oversaw during the Campbell government's first term, controversial moves which included reducing the number of health authorities and contracting out jobs.