St Vincent’s opens inquiry after Prime Time claims

St Vincent’s University Hospital has said two of its employees will not return to duty until after the completion of an internal inquiry following a Prime Time investigation of hospital procurement practices.

In a statement, the hospital said it had taken allegations made by the programme relating to it very seriously.

Prime Time had obtained information it alleged showed how some staff in a number of hospitals had accepted gifts from suppliers, in breach of their rules of employment.

Minister for Health Leo Varadkar and the HSE have been informed of the alleged breaches.

The HSE has suspended all payments to the company identified in the programme.

In a statement released following the programme, St Vincent’s said it has “set up an internal investigation team, to be chaired by an external forensic specialist, to examine the allegations notified to the hospital.

“The hospital has also decided to put two employees off duty with pay, and with immediate effect.”

This was done, it said, entirely without prejudice to the outcome of the investigation.

“This means that the two persons concerned, who are both currently on scheduled annual leave, will not be returning to duty while the investigation is under way.

“[The hospital] will also be investigating all aspects of the hospital’s relationship with the supplier company involved in the issues that have been now raised by the Prime Time investigation.”

‘Criminal matters’

Last night, a spokesman for Minister for Health Leo Varadkar released the following statement: “Corruption and bribery are crimes and criminal matters can only be investigated by the gardaí. The gardaí were made aware of the allegations.

“The HSE was also made aware of the allegations and conducted an internal audit of its hospitals. The two hospitals mentioned in the programme last night are not HSE hospitals.

“The Beacon is a private hospital and St Vincent’s is a privately owned institution with its own board of management.

“None of the people who featured in the programme last night are HSE or Department of Health employees.

“Nonetheless, the revelations on Prime Time have resulted in two members of St Vincent’s being suspended and the HSE has suspended all payments to [the company] pending further inquiries.”

In a separate development, the Irish Medical and Surgical Trade Association (IMSTA), which represents 90 per cent of the supply industry, said it was concerned by the claims, although it said companies named in the programme were not members.

It said its code of ethical business practice, launched by the Minister for Health in 2011, promotes integrity and ethical business practices across the medical device supply industry in Ireland.