Gloster ‘shocked' by claims of consultant misuse of waiting list system
Bernard Gloster was responding to a report in The Sunday Times that a consultant breached HSE guidelines by referring patients he was seeing in his public practice to his weekend private clinics, rather than securing earlier treatment for them by referring them to HSE colleagues.
Advertisement
The newspaper said the consultant was paid thousands of euros through the state's National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF), which pays private practices to treat patients on public waiting lists.
According to the report, the details were uncovered by an internal investigation by Children's Health Ireland (CHI).
Mr Gloster said if there was any evidence of misuse of public funds he would refer the matter to the gardai.
The HSE chief executive said he had been unaware of the CHI internal investigation.
Advertisement
'The content of it is absolutely shocking,' he told RTÉ's This Week programme on Sunday.
'Secondly, I'm even more shocked because nobody has told me about it, and in the light of everything we were doing in the last number of months with CHI, I'm just quite shocked.
'And, in fairness to the new CEO (CHI chief executive Lucy Nugent), that's not her fault – I'm not sure how much she has been told. I did speak to her briefly today.
'I believe a number of the issues around culture and other stuff that went on there were addressed, because the report was about more than that.
Advertisement
'But I want to be very clear, I've asked for a copy of the report myself, I have said to the CEO of CHI that I expect her and her board – other than or save for highly personal information – that that report should be published in the public interest.
'And I have made it clear that I reserve my position based on what I see in that report as to whether or not further questions arise and if any question arises, can I assure you, of anything connected with, or near connected with, alleged people ingratiating themselves financially in the public health system, the first step I'll be taking is to refer that matter to the gardai.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BreakingNews.ie
an hour ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Covid-19 cases rose over the past three months with one death last week
The number of Covid-19 cases has continually risen over the past three months and last week one person died, the infectious diseases watchdog has said. Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) data up to last Friday, August 16th showed there were 587 cases last week, 238 people needed to be hospitalised, two were admitted to Intensive Care Units (ICU) and there was one death. Advertisement From January 1st last to the start of June, the average number of cases stood between less than 100 to 200, however, from June until the second week of August cases have steadily climbed to almost 600 cases per week. Those aged 65 or older represented the largest proportion of cases last week, with numbers rising to almost 300, followed by the 45 to 64 age group and the 15 and 24 range. There has been a consistent low number of ICU admissions since January up to August while deaths have also been in single digit numbers. Of the outbreaks in healthcare settings, nursing homes were where the majority were reported from, followed by hospitals and residential homes. Advertisement Ireland 'They are turning him into a hero': Kneecap solida... Read More Official Covid-19 figures are acknowledged to underreport the true prevalence of the virus, due to a reduction in testing since the pandemic. The increase in cases is expected, as the virus tends to have two peaks: one in the winter and the other in the summer. The Covid-19 variant XFG accounted for 66 per cent of cases in the last five week while 17 per cent was the NB.1.8.1 type and the LP.8.1. Other variants have included XEC, XBB.1.5-like, BA.2.86+R346T, BA.2.86+F456L and BA.2.86 recombinant. The World Health Organisation (WHO) up until August 3rd shows that there were 56,174 reported cases worldwide.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Excessive sleepiness: are you always tired? Doctors may finally have a cure
Name: Excessive daytime sleepiness. Age: First described in 1976. Appearance: You, asleep in the clothes you went to work in. Surely it's natural to feel a bit sleepy during the day? Yes, but that isn't what this is. The important part of the equation is the 'excessive'. If you're always falling asleep outside bedtime hours, that's a problem. Oh, you really do mean excessive. Yes. And it's a condition recognised by the NHS, with the medical name hypersomnia. Narcolepsy? No, narcolepsy is a neurological condition that causes people to suddenly fall into deep sleeps. Hypersomnia is where you're so tired that you keep drifting off. Now I'm worried that I may have it. Well, answer me this: do you eat a lot of cheese, gherkins and smoked meat? Now you mention it, I do maintain a primarily charcuterie-based diet. Well, that might be your problem. Researchers from Brigham and Women's hospital in Boston have claimed that hypersomnia may have a lot to do with our metabolism. Worrying. Not really. The researchers say that the metabolite tyramine is a factor. Tyramine is found in overripe food, aged cheese, smoked meat and some alcoholic drinks. Wow, medieval kings must have been absolutely knackered all the time. It's suggested that if people feel constantly sleepy, they should ditch these foods and adopt a diet of seeds, nuts and vegetable oils. And the result is that you'll have more hours in the day to eat all this boring food? Exactly. Don't dismiss hypersomnia, though. There is a test you can take, the Epworth Sleepiness Scale, to discover if your napping is a problem or not. I just scored really highly on it. The NHS recommends that you should see your GP if you fall asleep during the day too often. Why bother? I'll just lay off the gouda and everything will be dandy. Out of interest, do you snore a lot? How rude! Maybe. If you do, you may have sleep apnoea, and your daytime sleepiness could be down to your inability to reach a point of deep, restorative sleep at night. Also, are you depressed? Isn't everyone? That's another potential cause of hypersomnia. What if I'm depressed because someone from Boston just told me that I can't eat so much antipasti? Oh dear, that means you're trapped in a rare but dangerous hypersomnia loop. Maybe just give in to it. Nothing wrong with an impromptu nap, is there? I'm a commercial airline pilot. Forget everything I just said. Eat these seeds immediately. Do say: 'Smoked meat causes excessive daytime sleepiness.' Don't say: 'And also cures it, if you use a Peperami to prop your eyelids open.'
The Independent
3 hours ago
- The Independent
Moment 11-year-old girl learns she's finally getting a transplant
An 11-year-old girl, Ava Cooper, received life-changing news that a donor heart was available for transplant after waiting almost a year. Footage shared by Cleveland Clinic in Ohio shows the heart-warming moment Ava was told the news while on a call with her father. Ava, who has battled heart defects since she was a week old, had spent nearly 300 days at the hospital awaiting the transplant. A later clip shows Ava leaving the hospital to cheers from staff, marking the successful outcome of her long wait. Watch the video in full above.
