AN IMPASSE over the appointment of a senior management team at the Health Service Executive appears to have been resolved, with the appointment of a prominent Dublin consultant to the post of national director of clinical care with the organisation.
The Irish Timeshas learned that Dr Barry White, a consultant haematologist at St James's Hospital, has agreed a two-year secondment arrangement with Prof Brendan Drumm, the HSE chief executive. It is understood he will begin work as the executive's chief clinical officer in July.
Earlier this year, it was reported that Prof Drumm and the board of the HSE had disagreed over the best candidate for one of three new senior management posts – the director of integrated care.
The creation of this post – an amalgamation of the national hospital office and the primary, community and continuing care (PCCC) directorates – is seen as an admission that the initial structure had failed to deliver patient-centred care.
There are indications that Laverne McGuinness, director of the PCCC, and Anne Doherty, director of the national hospitals office, may be appointed as joint directors of integrated care.
Dr White, a graduate of University College Dublin, is an expert in the treatment of hereditary blood coagulation disorders, and is clinical director of St James’s Hospital.
He will oversee clinical governance groups at a local level.
The new clinical supremo is expected to focus on common clinical areas such as asthma, diabetes and epilepsy and work to put in place national treatment guidelines for each condition.