Latest news with #toxicCulture
Irish Times
20 hours ago
- Health
- Irish Times
Children's Health Ireland report referred to gardaí
A report on waiting list irregularities and a 'toxic' work culture at a hospital run by Children's Health Ireland (CHI) is to be referred to gardaí , the Cabinet committee on health has been told. The report, which not been published but has been widely reported in some media outlets, has caused shock in Government over the past week. The revelations come after a series of scandals in CHI, which is due to run the new national children's hospital when it opens. The Cabinet committee on health was told on Wednesday that the Health Service Executive (HSE) has referred the report to the Garda with a view to it being assessed for a possible investigation. READ MORE The meeting was attended by Taoiseach Micheál Martin , Tánaiste Simon Harris , Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe, Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers and Minister for Children Norma Foley. [ Audit of CHI waiting lists ordered to ensure productivity in public hospitals, Minister for Health says Opens in new window ] The National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF), which buys treatments in the public and private sectors for patients on long waiting lists, has said it will pause funding for CHI while potential irregularities are investigated. Ms Carroll MacNeill has assured parents scheduled surgeries will not be delayed. Earlier this week, The Irish Times reported further findings, including about reports of a 'toxic' work culture in parts of a CHI hospital, where there were complaints of bullying and victimisation of trainees, and where one consultant had taken proceedings for defamation against another. The CHI internal report was drawn up in late 2021/early 2022 but was not given to the then minister for health, the HSE or the NTPF. The report found CHI had a 'broken culture' created by dysfunctional relationships and challenging behaviour. It said there were also concerns about management of NTPF funding and a lack of oversight of access initiatives that ultimately were not in keeping with a memorandum of understanding between CHI and the NTPF. [ CHI consultant at centre of review did not fulfil on-call hours for three years due to 'health issues' Opens in new window ] The report raised concerns about five special weekend out-patient clinics for 179 children carried out by a consultant. These were funded by the NTPF. The consultant received €35,800 for seeing these patients at the special out-patient clinics that operated over five Saturdays. The report questioned whether these clinics were needed and suggested the patients could have been treated by other doctors in the public system. On Tuesday the NTPF suspended payments on a temporary basis pending an investigation into the operation of the waiting list schemes in CHI. According to the report, which CHI said it cannot publish for legal reasons, the consultant was indefinitely removed from on-call duty for 'health reasons' in 2019, a commitment under his public contract. CHI hired a locum to fill these hours, spending about €450,000 on the locum between 2019 and when the review took place in 2021. The report said : 'It needs to be explored how one consultant can undertake a series of NTPF-funded clinics over numerous Saturdays and during these clinics see a much greater number of patients than they are able to see in their routine public clinics, working at a very fast pace with significant throughput – a substantial undertaking of additional work, yet is unfit for any on-call duties for the past three years.' The NTPF-funded clinics were not sought by or offered to any of the other eight general surgeons in CHI, it said . In a statement earlier this week, CHI said the NTPF-funded clinics were a waiting-list initiative and were 'over and above the consultant's contractual hours'.
ABC News
28-05-2025
- General
- ABC News
ANU Vice-Chancellor Genevieve Bell says she's committed to implementing the report's recommendations.
Australian National University Vice-Chancellor Genevieve Bell says an external investigator will review allegations of "wildly inappropriate behaviour" within the College of Health and Medicine. The allegations are contained in a second, confidential report by Professor Christine Nixon who yesterday released a damning review of the "toxic" culture within the college.
ABC News
28-05-2025
- Health
- ABC News
'Wildly inappropriate behaviour' within Australian National University medical college to be investigated
People accused of "wildly inappropriate behaviour" at the Australian National University's medical college could be fired if allegations are proven, Vice-Chancellor Genevieve Bell says. A report by Professor Christine Nixon into gender and cultural issues at the College of Health and Medicine and its constituent schools — found an entrenched toxic culture and a "remarkable tolerance for poor behaviour and bullying". The college includes the John Curtin School of Medical Research, the School of Medicine and Psychology, and the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health. Professor Bell said a second, confidential report by Professor Nixon was also presented to university leadership, which included allegations about people who still worked at the university as well as ex-staff. "We expected, as people talked to [Professor Nixon], that people were going to disclose and make allegations about really wildly inappropriate behaviour and we asked her to quarantine that from the report," Professor Bell said. Professor Bell said an external investigator would be appointed to review those allegations. "At the moment they are allegations and the thing about that is they need to be investigated appropriately," she said. She did not rule out firing people if the allegations were found to be true. "When we have had serious misconduct we will manage it within the parameters that we have," Professor Bell said. Professor Bell said the report primarily focused on one college — arising from "disturbing accounts" of what had been happening. Since the review was commissioned last year, ANU closed the College of Health and Medicine and created a combined College of Science and Medicine. Professor Bell said the eight key findings and 17 recommendations made in the report were "absolutely" applicable across the university. Profesor Bell said previous reports into different aspects of the College of Health and Medicine over the years had pointed to challenges in the culture there. "I suspect this is not a recent phenomenon," she said. "Something that's been there that long will take time to unpick and change." She said she read the report alongside her predecessor Brian Schmidt, and said all previous vice-chancellors had "done their best" to improve the university. "He reflected on how hard it is to change large institutions," Ms Bell said. "He said it was a hard read — which it has been for all of us." ANU Students' Association president William Burfoot said the report's findings were "shocking and incredibly, incredibly concerning" but reflected a culture not limited to just the medical school. "I don't think it's unique to the medical school. "It is a more pervasive issue and that just requires us to do much, much more to address it and to make sure that these kinds of things can't continue to happen." Mr Burfoot said it was great the report was initiated and shared publicly, but the community needed to see "top to bottom" change implemented. Professor Bell said the university was already taking steps to implement the report's recommendations. She said a leader had been allocated to each recommendation and would report back on first steps taken by July. "There should be an expectation about accountability. There should be an expectation about action." Professor Bell said Professor Nixon would carry out a follow-up assessment at the beginning of 2026.
Daily Mail
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Country music star breaks silence on rumors she is leaving the 'toxic' genre
After previously declaring that she was leaving the 'toxic' world of country music, singer Maren Morris has now set the record straight. The singer, 34, announced that she had stopped writing within her formerly favored genre back in September 2023. During an interview on The New York Times' Popcast podcast at the time, the performer said she quit producing country music because she 'couldn't do this circus anymore.' She added: 'I just couldn't do that after 2020, particularly. I've changed. A lot of things changed about me that year.' The Grammy Award-winning performer also said that the decision to leave country behind was particularly difficult, although she felt as if she had no other choice. 'I don't want to say goodbye, but I really cannot participate in the really toxic arms of this institution anymore,' she revealed. The Texas native had been calling for more diversity within the musical genre to go beyond the white male heterosexual artists that have dominated the industry. She previously told the Los Angeles Times: 'I thought I'd like to burn it to the ground and start over. But it's burning itself down without my help.' But Maren appears to have now made a u-turn. Despite her previous comments about the genre, the singer has now revealed that she 'never said she was leaving country music' in a new interview with The Guardian. Maren appears to be attempting to distance herself from the LA Times article - which was titled 'Maren Morris is getting the hell out of country music: "I've said everything I can say"' - as she promotes her new album, Dreamsicle. The singer called the article 'really unfortunate.' 'I never said I'm leaving country music, because that's not really how I feel at all,' she detailed to the outlet. 'You hear country music on this album. You can't just intentionally take the parts away. 'There would be nothing left of the sound of me. Because it's just there. It's in my bones and it's in the way I write.' Speaking about the 2023 article, she explained: '[The story] caused a ton of unnecessary drama for me from that community because I was already sort of on the outs. 'I'm not backtracking what I said, I just never said that.' Despite her previous comments about the genre, the singer has now revealed that she 'never said she was leaving country music' in a new interview Maren added that she has lived in Nashville for 12 years and 'it's not going to be some tussle that's going to make me change my address.' Though she moved label divisions, no longer does the country radio circuit, and doesn't submit her music to the Country Music Awards or the Academy of Country Music Awards, the singer still works with all the same people. 'It would be strange to be like: "This music isn't me anymore." 'That makes me feel like I'm s***ting on the music I've already put out, and that's not how I feel at all.' She continued: 'The fans that I've made and the communities those fans have made through being a fan of my music is so important to me. 'So to ever come out of my mouth saying: 'I'm leaving you behind' – I'd never be so reckless and stupid.' Regarding her new album, the singer said: 'If you dive deep enough, or if you just listen to the album, it's very clear that I haven't left anything behind.'
ABC News
07-05-2025
- ABC News
VIDEO: NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb will step down
After barely three years, NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb has confirmed her resignation, an announcement that comes months after ABC News exposed allegations of systematically toxic work culture spanning decades.
