HSE criticises National Maternity Hospital over pay policy breaches

The National Maternity Hospital (NMH) breached public service pay policy by making payments to some senior managers, a HSE internal audit report has found.

It says the NMH “blurred boundaries” between the publicly-funded facility and a semi-private clinic on its site pose a risk of conflicts of interest.

The report, to be released on Wednesday, says four senior managers received additional payments from the NMH for duties carried out relating to the semi-private clinic.

A series of linkages between the publicly-funded hospital and about a dozen companies providing services involving senior figures at the institution are also highlighted in the audit.

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It points to a €1.4 million loan provided to the hospital by the semi-private clinic and maintains that buildings owned by the NMH were used as collateral for a €4.5 million loan taken out by the semi-private clinic, which the maternity hospital management services and to which it provides transaction processing.

Factual inaccuracies

The NMH last night strongly criticised the audit findings, saying the report contained multiple factual inaccuracies. It said there were numerous omissions of relevant facts and that conclusions had been reached without supporting evidence.

“We disagree with much of the opinion expressed. The nub of our disagreement arises from the failure of the reports to accept that the National Maternity Hospital is not owned by the HSE but is an independent entity,” it said.

The audit report describes the semi-private clinic as “an unincorporated entity” under which consultants employed by the NMH provide services to private patients. It says the net income is distributed to the consultants.

It says the NMH stated that the payments to three managers were from private sources other than fundraising or donations. HSE internal auditors considered these payments to be in breach of public sector pay policy.

Payment to master

The report also highlighted a €40,000 payment made to the current master of the hospital, Dr Rhona Mahony.

The hospital said it welcomed the HSE’s acknowledgement that the €40,000 additional payment to the master was sourced from the fee income of the semi-private clinic.

The hospital said the buildings which were used as collateral for the loan were not publicly funded. It said they had been in a dangerous condition and were leased to the semi-private clinic at a modest rent.

The hospital said the refurbishment of the four buildings cost about €6 million. The semi-private clinic paid €4.5million and it loaned the hospital €1.4 towards the project on an interest-free basis.

In exchange, the hospital had use of the upgraded facility for offices and retained ownership.