Latest news with #CHI
Irish Times
2 days ago
- General
- Irish Times
Biochemist on special purpose contract with Children's Health Ireland loses unfair dismissal claim
A biochemist who was employed for 19 months at Children's Health Ireland (CHI) , and was accused of seeking to leverage a grievance procedure to obtain a full-time job, has lost her claim for unfair dismissal. Representing herself at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), Mary Ann Healy said she believed her complaint against her line manager prompted her dismissal. She said she suffered from a lot of anxiety due to the handling of her complaint in which she alleged she was humiliated by the manager. . A process of mediation was established between the two employees in an attempt to resolve the issue, but this was unsuccessful. The complaint was not upheld after an internal review process. READ MORE Ms Healy appealed, but her employment at CHI had finished by the time the appeal was considered. It was rejected on that basis. Ms Healy told WRC adjudication officer Valerie Murtagh she did not believe the specified purpose contract she had been offered was genuine. She said the purpose was supposed to be providing cover for an employee seconded to another role but she had never been told who that person was. She said the recruitment process was arduous and suggested the pre-employment checks were so demanding that the experience had 'all the hallmarks' of being geared towards a permanent contract. Instead, on June 17th, 2024, about 18 months into working with the organisation, she received a message from the HR department at CHI saying the purpose of her 'specified purpose contract' has 'come to an end'. She was given four weeks' notice. Ms Healy said it was only when she was told her contract had ceased that she was informed she had been backfilling for someone who was returning. Ms Healy, who was herself the subject of a complaint by an agency worker who provided some of her training, said she believed she was dismissed because of her complaint, adding that CHI sought to avoid acknowledging this by claiming her contract was up. In its evidence to the commission, CHI, represented by Ibec, said Ms Healy was provided with a specified purpose contract. CHI's lawyers submitted that Ms Healy wanted an apology from her manager in front of her colleagues, a permanent contract and a pay increase to address her complaint. In a decision in the case, Ms Murtagh said she was satisfied documentation provided by CHI established that another employee, whose name was not published, had returned to the post immediately after Ms Healy departed the role. Based on this and other documentation supplied, she found the claim of unfair dismissal was not well-founded. She similarly rejected claims made under the Organisation of Working Time Act and the Protection of employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act 2003.
RTÉ News
2 days ago
- Health
- RTÉ News
What future for Children's Health Ireland?
The stream of controversies surrounding Children's Health Ireland (CHI) have placed the spotlight on the body which is charged with governing and operating the three paediatric hospitals in Dublin - Temple Street, Crumlin and the National Children's Hospital at Tallaght. The events of recent months have shocked parents, the public and the political system. A series of damning reports, the resignation of CHI's chairperson and four board members recently, plus several changes in the senior management, has placed a question mark over its future. With further review reports to be published, more damaging revelations are expected. Is CHI capable of managing the largest transformation project in the history of Irish healthcare, with the move to the new National Children's Hospital? 2019 CHI was established in 2018 as a statutory body and it took over governance of the three hospitals the following year. Its CEO reports to a 12-member board, which includes the chairperson. The board usually holds around 25 meetings a year, and a minimum of six. Board members work on a voluntary basis and receive no remuneration, except for expenses if claimed. In 2023, only two members claimed expenses. After the recent HIQA report into spinal operations, Prof Browne stood down as chairperson and in the past week, four other board members resigned; Dr Gavin Lavery, Brigid McManus, Catherine Guy and Mary Cryan. That leaves Dr Ruben Diaz, Mary Donovan, Jim Frawley, Orla O'Brien, Eleanor O'Neill and Joe Quinn. On Thursday, Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill appointed two members to the board, both of them existing board members of the HSE, Dr Yvonne Traynor and Anne Carrigy. The last published annual report for CHI for 2023 shows that there were six meetings of the CHI Quality and Safety Committee during that year. The committee's role includes providing a level of assurance to the board on appropriate governance structures, processes, standards and controls relating to quality and patient safety. The committee also has several external members. Minister Carroll MacNeill has pointed out that the CHI Board is a different construct to anything she has seen in her time in public service. Of the 12 members, eight are appointed by the board itself and four by the minister. She has committed to looking at this issue. Why was CHI established? Usually in the health service, the HSE is responsible for running services for patients. However, it is the biggest public sector employer with over 130,000 staff and a massive budget of over €25m a year. The rationale behind setting up CHI lay in the singular job of bringing the three children's hospitals in Dublin together, for the move to the long-delayed and costly new National Children's Hospital, due to open next summer. In itself, it is a mammoth task. CHI is also responsible for an Urgent Care Centre for children open at Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown and at Tallaght Hospital. First Chief Executive Officer The first CEO of CHI was Eilísh Hardiman, appointed in 2019. Last year, she left that post and moved over to a strategic role in CHI and was paid an equivalent salary to her CEO role. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in the Dáil heard recently that CHI paid an undisclosed settlement to Ms Hardiman after she left her CEO post, even though her contract had come to an end. This is subject to a non-disclosure agreement. The PAC was told the reason for keeping Ms Hardiman was that a change in leadership was coming at a critical time and it would be important to retain the knowledge of the previous chief executive. The new CEO is Lucy Nugent who took up her post in January this year and had been CEO of Tallaght Hospital since 2019. Governance concerns Late last year, RTÉ News revealed details of a 2024 review of Operational Readiness at CHI, conducted by consultants KPMG. This was commissioned by the HSE. It questioned the operational readiness to commission and operate the new National Children's Hospital at the St James's Hospital campus. The report also pointed to gaps in senior leadership teams, a sub-optimal clinical governance structure, a lack of clarity around the future operating model and resourcing of the new hospital, plus the drift in expected completion dates. KPMG found clearly marked differences in culture and organisational maturity across the three children's hospitals. The report also found that pressures on the hospitals, in particular with waiting lists and patients waiting for scoliosis surgery, were placing considerable strain on key personnel and the organisation as a whole. Plus, the absence of a permanent CEO at the time and the arrangement of having an acting CEO, who had to combine duties with a large element of her deputy CEO/COO portfolio, was a challenge. Minister and the CHI Board Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill explained this week how she has a different relationship with the CHI Board in statute, than any other minister has with most other boards. She described it as "an unusual structure" and she does not have the authority to ask people to step down in the way that might normally be expected. The minister also said there were "toxic behaviours" within CHI that had been allowed to develop over time. She said these were individuals who were very defiant and who had not gone along with what the noard and the executive and the broader thrust of public policy has been. Given that health staff at the three children's hospitals are paid by the public purse and have contractual obligations, this is a serious matter that needs to be resolved urgently by the employer in the public and patient interest. Latest crisis As a result of recent reviews, we now know that many hip surgeries on children at Temple Street and Cappagh Orthopaedic hospitals were not necessary. It is important to note that Crumlin was also included in the review, but it was found not to be conducting unnecessary hip operations. Parents of around 1,800 children are being offered independent reviews and this process will take months. There were serious spinal surgery incidents and use of unapproved springs by a consultant at Temple Street and Cappagh. This consultant is on leave. A separate review by UK expert, Mr Selvadurai Nayagam, into these matters is due to be completed soon. And last weekend, the revelation that a consultant was referring public patients to his own private weekend clinics for work paid for by the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF). The NTPF has clarified that it only ever pays hospitals directly and never consultants. The internal report by CHI into this affair is expected to be published soon. Can CHI survive? It is difficult to see CHI surviving in its current form, given these events and more very difficult reports to be published. The Minister for Health has appointed two HSE Board members to the CHI Board to strengthen governance. But will that be enough? Because the CEO of CHI reports to the board, a functional board is needed for CHI to properly operate and progress the move to the new children's hospital. Opposition politicians have called for CHI to be subsumed into the HSE. But there are questions as to whether the HSE could, or would, even want to absorb a body, with so many challenges ahead, given that the HSE is going through its own recent transitional reforms to six new health regions. So, this poses major challenges, with a year to go before the planned move to open the new National Children's Hospital. I spoke to some medical staff for the purposes of this analysis. A common view is that the only way to sort the mess out is to work at an organisational level, to massively improve culture, corporate and clinical governance. Otherwise, the project could be in existential danger. Some senior staff believe that realistically, the hospital may not open until around April 2027 and that it would be better to set that date now, rather than be endlessly adjusting. Staff planning is impossible with a moving target and the uncertainty can be corrosive. Merger of hopsital Merging hospitals with different cultures and staff is very difficult. We have been here before a few times. In the late 1990s, I covered the merger of the Meath, the Adelaide and the National Children's Hospital, Temple Street into what became Tallaght Hospital. It opened in summer 1998 and the first few years were fraught with difficulties. It takes a long time for a new hospital to bed down. Before that, there was the merger of Jervis Street and the Richmond Hospitals which became Beaumont Hospital. It opened in November 1987 and faced its own teething problems and divisions. Inevitably, bringing hospitals together and the personalities and competing departments within them will be testing. There are also concerns that a considerable number of staff could decide to leave in the transfer, if the situation looks gloomy. The priority for the new National Children's Hospital must be the patients and their parents. Also, staff have a right to work in a good safe, working environment, under transparent governance. CHI will be coming before the Oireachtas Health Committee soon to answer many of the questions posed here. Conclusion The Government must bring clarity to the future of CHI quickly, as well as reassuring the public that the service is safe. It will likely want to have receipt and publication of all of the reports before making final decisions. The report by Mr Nayagam is likely to include findings and recommendations on governance also, so that will be very important too. Strengthening the CHI Board with new appointments should also help and other board vacancies still need to be filled. With just a year to go before the new national paediatric hospital is due to open, there is very limited time to get the operational structure right. CHI has been faced with so many challenges that it has largely been focused on managing business as usual for the three hospitals, and has had little time for planning the big move. The decisions facing the Government and the Minister for Health are incredibly serious, as on them hinge the future of healthcare for children, for the next decade and beyond.
Irish Examiner
3 days ago
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Irish Examiner view: Trump tariff plan in disarray just as his biggest cheerleader exits
Readers may be forgiven for imagining that they hear the high squeal of brakes drifting across the Atlantic, with news that US president Donald Trump's controversial tariff programme has been stopped and declared illegal by an American court. The US Court of International Trade in New York found that the legislation cited by Mr Trump as the basis for imposing massive increases in tariffs — the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act — does not, in fact, authorise the use of tariffs. Because of the singular nature of the Trump presidency, it is not clear yet whether the White House will abide by this ruling. It has already appealed the decision formally but it is entirely conceivable that the administration will simply carry on in defiance of the court's finding. Nevertheless, this decision is instructive on its merits, as it shows what happens when established legal procedure encounters the wilder edge of Maga decision-making. Trump has been using tariffs as an on-again, off-again threat since he took office, and the result has been uncertainty and chaos rather than a revitalised US economy. It was significant, for instance, that Wall Street and other financial markets reacted positively to the court ruling yesterday, itself a telling referendum on the global view of Trump's economic agenda. The tariff regime wasn't the only speed bump encountered by the White House this week. Billionaire Tesla and X owner Elon Musk has left the administration, though he indicated that DOGE (his Department of Government Efficiency) would continue to operate. Mr Musk's involvement was always envisaged as temporary and his departure was no shock, but it comes just days after he said Trump's budget bill, which proposes multi-trillion dollar tax breaks and a boost to defence spending, was 'disappointing'. It would be wrong to say the Maga project is in a terminal crisis, as a state of roiling uncertainty is its operating mode. Still, questions can legitimately be asked about the scatter-gun approach Mr Trump took in his first 100 days when his biggest cheerleader is gone and his economic masterstroke is illegal. CHI-HSE merger plan The ongoing chaos at Children's Health Ireland took a new turn this week with suggestions that health minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, was considering subsuming CHI into the HSE. This follows the eye-opening series of controversies at CHI, which functions as the operator of paediatric healthcare in Ireland. Those controversies range from the Health Information and Quality Authority revelations about spinal operations on children at Temple Street Children's Hospital to the independent audit of hip surgeries on children at Temple Street and Cappagh Hospitals. More recently, we learned of an internal CHI report which found that a consultant had breached guidelines by referring public patients to his private clinic. The cumulative effect of these revelations has been to create a negative image of CHI — of an organisation operating without the appropriate level of oversight when it comes to the clinical care of children, its raison d'être. The revelations have already had a serious impact on the CHI's upper management structure. Since these matters came into the public domain, four board members and the previous chairman have all resigned. With this background in mind, it is reasonable to ask if CHI can possibly survive in its current form, but opposition to the organisation merging with the HSE emerged quickly yesterday. Irish Voluntary Healthcare Association CEO Mo Flynn told this newspaper: 'The Irish Voluntary Healthcare Association does not support any attempts to subsume voluntary hospitals under the aegis of the HSE. This would be a highly complex process with no clear practical benefits to patient care.' This seems an eminently reasonable point to make — if there is no apparent benefit to patients, why undertake such a challenging task? It is also worth remembering that CHI was established in 2019 to govern and operate paediatric services in Ireland, and to operate the new national children's hospital. That project has had its own travails but, given what we have learned recently, whenever it opens, is Children's Health Ireland fit to operate it? Bord Bia Bloom's strong roots This is the 19th year of the Bloom festival and it appears to be going from strength to strength. Bord Bia Bloom, to give its full title, is an annual highlight for the thousands of gardening enthusiasts who flock to it — more than 100,000 people are expected to attend Bloom in the Phoenix Park over the coming five days. While the image of gardening may be that of a quiet, solitary pursuit, Bloom is a bustling hive of activity. Visitors can enjoy some 21 show and feature gardens, including Super Garden 2025, created by Laois native Debbie Brophy. They can also take in some of the live cookery demonstrations, or one of the dozens of talks, workshops, and performances. Interestingly, the festival is stressing climate change, the environment, and sustainable living as themes for this year. This is particularly welcome after the disappointing news this week that Ireland is 'going backwards' in our attempts to meet our greenhouse gas emission targets. If our ordinary citizens commit to fighting climate change as they tend their gardens then there is no reason why the Government cannot follow their lead.
The Journal
3 days ago
- Health
- The Journal
Children's Health Ireland to be called back before Public Accounts Committee
THE PUBLIC ACCOUNTS Committee is to recall Children's Health Ireland (CHI) and the HSE to appear before it. The PAC has also called for the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) to appear before it. CHI last appeared before the committee last week alongside the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board to give an update on progress on the construction of the National Children's Hospital. Sinn Féin TD John Brady, who chairs the PAC, said the recall comes following reports that a CHI consultant allegedly referred patients he was seeing in his public practice to weekend clinics that he was operating separately. The Sunday Times reported last week on unpublished findings that the consultant breached HSE guidelines with these referrals. The consultant was paid €35,800 via the National Treatment Purchase Fund, which aims to cut waiting times by paying private practices to treat patients on public waiting lists. However, a 2021 inquiry found the patients selected had not waited longest, and so did not qualify for the consultant's appointments. Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill said she received the report at 3.30pm on Monday, and that it is very serious. Speaking on radio earlier this week, she said she is working out the 'legal parameters around publishing the report', adding that she does feel it is important that it is published. Advertisement Sinn Féin TD John Brady, who chairs the committee, said it has asked CHI and the HSE to appear before it. In a statement this afternoon, Brady said the public 'has a right to expect accountability at every level of our health system, especially where public money and patient care are concerned'. 'This is not just about one consultant – it is about the systems and oversight mechanisms that allowed this to happen,' the PAC chair said. Children's Health Ireland has been in charge of children's health services in Ireland since 2019. It has been scandal hit over the last year, over the use of unauthorised implants in children's spinal surgeries, and unwarranted hip surgeries being carried out on children, which was initially reported by The Ditch. An independent review published last Friday established that in Temple Street, roughly 40% of the surgeries the audit reviewed were indicated to have met the criteria; in Cappagh, 21% were indicated, and in Crumlin, virtually all surgeries fell under the criteria. Following its findings, CHI CEO Lucy Nugent apologised to impacted families who were not offered a 'consistent and excellent standard of care'. Three members of the CHI board resigned from their positions following the release of the review into hip surgeries. This evening, the Health Minister announced that she has appointed Dr Yvonne Traynor and Anne Carrigy to the CHI board. '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,' Carroll MacNeill said. She said that further appointments relating to vacancies on the board will be made in due course. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
Irish Independent
3 days ago
- Health
- Irish Independent
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. ADVERTISEMENT 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.
