Two ‘veterans' appointed to CHI board in wake of damning reports
The two people appointed today by the Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, are Dr Yvonne Traynor and Anne Carrigy.
CHI has been under fire after a number of damning reports relating to the care of patients in children's hospitals.
The aim of appointing two veterans with long experience of oversight and supervision of managers to the board is to improve the running of the three children's hospitals and be a link to decision-makers in the HSE.
Dr Traynor was vice president of Regulatory and Scientific Affairs with Kerry Group. Prior to that, she held a number of global and regional leadership positions with German consumer goods company, Henkel.
She has a particular interest in organisational transformation, risk management and delivering excellent customer experience, according to the Department of Health.
She is also a chartered director and has several years' board experience, including the role of chairperson of the audit, risk and compliance committee of the Irish Blood Transfusion Service.
She had been a member of the HSE board since June 28, 2019.
The second appointee is retired nurse Anne Carrigy who specialised and worked in intensive care, before moving nursing management as Director of Nursing and Head of Corporate Affairs at the Mater Hospital Dublin.
Ms Carrigy then joined the HSE as Director of the Serious Incident Management Team and subsequently became National Lead, of Acute Hospital Services with the HSE.
She has served on both national and international boards and committees over many years, including serving as President of the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland; board member of ENDA (European Nurse Directors Association); President of FEPI (European Federation of Nursing Professions); Council Member of the Medical Council of Ireland; Board Member of HIQA (Health, Information and Quality Authority); and Member of the Governing Body of Letterkenny Institute of Technology.
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The Department of Health said she is 'passionate about patients and has advocated for patient centred care, having dedicated her life to improving patient care services'.
She has been on the HSE board since 2021.
The minister said that the 'strengthening of governance and oversight at CHI will further support the extensive transformation programme, led by CHI CEO Lucy Nugent and her team, as we move to open the state-of-art children's hospital which will be Ireland's first digital public hospital.'
Further appointments relating to vacancies on the CHI Board will be made in due course, she added.
A number of vacancies have been created on the CHI board following four resignations of long-standing members in the past week.
CHI, which oversees the three children's hospitals, has been rocked by a number of reports, including an audit showing a high number of possibly unnecessary hip dysplasia surgeries in Temple St Hospital and Cappagh Hospital.
It was seen as not having enough grip on what was happening on the floor of the children's hospitals.
More recently an unpublished report was leaked to the media revealing how a doctor in a CHI hospital in 2021 abused National Treatment Purchase Fund money to hold additional clinics to reduce waiting list backlogs. The doctor is accused of enhancing his income in selecting patients for the clinics while children in greater need were left waiting longer.
Neither the Department of Health or HSE were made aware of the report. It hastened the need for stronger oversight and better reporting obligations on CHI to the HSE and the Department.
The need to ensure a tighter control of what is going on in CHI will be essential over the coming year as the health service moves nearer to the opening of the new €2.24bn national children's hospital.
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