Tallaght Hospital senior executive threatens legal action over A&E inquiry

A senior executive at Tallaght Hospital has warned he will take High Court action if the hospital goes ahead with an investigation into complaints made by doctors in the emergency department.

Lawyers acting on behalf of John O'Connell, current director of human resources and a former acting chief executive, said in a letter that the hospital had come under considerable pressure from Minister for Health Leo Varadkar "to appease consultants in the emergency department".

Last week The Irish Times reported that Mr Varadkar had written to the hospital last December seeking that an investigation be carried out, after hearing details of allegations made by emergency department consultant Jean O'Sullivan about conditions in A&E.Complaints werehad alsobeen been raisedmade by other doctors in the department.

It is understood that lawyers acting on behalf of Mr O’Connell wrote to management last week seeking that the hospital provide a number of undertakings, including a commitment it would not embark on or continue with an investigation into complaints made by the doctors, which date back to 2011.

Confidentiality

The lawyers’ letter also asks the hospital to investigate what it maintained were breaches of confidentiality that resulted in the publication of material concerning their client which should not be in the public domain.

Lawyers for Mr O’Connell also argue that the hospital had accepted that, under its internal grievance procedures, complaints in the workplace had to be lodged within six months of an alleged incident.

It says the hospital had previously conceded that complaints raised by doctors in the emergency department in 2011 were “out of time and were not to be pursued”.

Historic complaints

The letter says it came as a complete shock to Mr O’Connell to learn that four years later it was proposed to “re-ignite those historic complaints”.

It says Mr O’Connell had set out his own grievance at the planned move but that the procedures adopted by the hospital to deal with this issue were “utterly substandard and devoid of any fair procedures and/or natural justice”.

The letter says that the hospital, while purporting to address Mr O’Connell’s grievance regarding the decision to look into the complaints, had at the same time set up a parallel process on how the planned investigation should take place.

The letter maintains that, at the time an external human resource consultant was processing the grievance submitted by Mr O’Connell, a colleague “was setting the scene for the continuation of an investigation into the complaints”.

A spokesman for Tallaght Hospital said it could not comment on HR matters.

“In any HR scenario, the hospital has a responsibility to ensure the rights of all parties are upheld and that issues are addressed through due process and in accordance with the HR framework in place within the hospital.”