Paul Reid defends decision to leave HSE chief executive post early

Health Service Executive boss Paul Reid has defended his decision to leave his post early, as the health service prepares for what it expects will be another very difficult winter.

Mr Reid’s successor will be appointed following a public competition and international search, he confirmed, leaving the organisation without a permanent chief executive for at least the next six months.

Mr Reid, who steps down in a month’s time after three years in the job, said he had given “everything I possibly can” to the role.

“I don’t think my loyalty can be challenged. People have to make personal assessments of their career at different stages, that’s exactly where I am now. I don’t feel I’ve left anything behind me. I don’t feel I’ve let anybody down.”

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While he does not plan to retire, the 58-year-old said he has nothing planned for the future at present other than to spend more time with his family. “There’s nothing in the pipeline,” he said.

Another Covid-19 wave is likely this winter, Mr Reid acknowledged. The HSE’s concern is around a “dual hit” to the health service from flu and Covid-19.

To meet this challenge, the health service will try to treat more patients in health settings outside hospitals, as well as promoting greater uptake of the Covid-19 boosters.

The current waiting list plan aims to reduce the number of patients waiting for a hospital appointment or procedure by 18 per cent, but Mr Reid admitted “we’re not at that at all”. Meanwhile, August’s trolley figures were the worst ever for that month.

“I can’t forecast whether we’ll be at 18 per cent [down] or 15 per cent or 10 per cent” by the end of the year, he added. There is no “short-term fix” to the problem of long waiting lists.

Mr Reid said there is “a culture in Ireland of the emergency department being the primary port of call for people’s healthcare”. Another concern was the significant proportion of the population, particularly non-Irish nationals, who do not have a regular GP.

Asked whether elements of the health service were resistant to change, he replied: “Having worked in other organisation, [I know] the private sector is equally resistant to change. Sometimes, they have different ways of dealing with this, such as paying people off.”

Nonetheless, it will take a “big cultural shift” to get acute hospitals and community services to work together, he warned.

Mr Reid recalled being “blown away” before he started as chief executive by the complaints of some hospital surgeons about “money being taken off us” when greater investment in community care was being proposed.

Mr Reid urged the Government to “leap” into funding the rollout of electronic health records across the health system. At the moment, electronic records are used only in children’s hospital and some maternity hospitals, and Mr Reid said there is no funding at present for extending e-records to the wider health service.

As a result, he said, young patients are being “aged out” and are losing their electronic records once they turn 18 and are transferred to adult services.

On the controversial plan to end the 24/7 emergency department in Navan hospital, he said the HSE “has to make this happen in a safe way”.

“It’s not safe at it currently is [but] we’re committed to making it happen in a way that addresses the concerns” raised by people.

Mr Reid plans to finish as CEO on October 3rd, after which he will take a period of accrued leave. HSE chief financial officer Stephen Mulvany is to take up the position of acting chief executive after his departure.