Minister failed in her duties over Tallaght - Callely

SEANAD:THE MINISTER for Health was among those who had failed in their duties in regard to what had happened at Tallaght hospital, a Government member said. Referring to the failure to review thousands of X-rays, Ivor Callely (FF) said this scandal was a wake-up call for action.

He would support what Joe O’Toole (Ind) had said about what one might expect of a Minister, whoever the minister of the day might be. They should look at the structures that were in place.

Mr O’Toole might look at what had happened. “The breaking news indicates that the hospital managers were aware, the Minister was aware, the Department of Health and Children were aware, Hiqa – the body which monitors healthcare quality – was aware and the HSE were aware. They have failed in their duties.”

The issue showed that the HSE as a single service provider for the whole country had failed.

Calling for a broad-ranging debate on management and structure of the health services, Mr Callely said they needed to revisit the old health board structure with input of local public representatives and appropriate management models based on the European constituency catchment areas, which may be suitable for the delivery of an appropriate health service.

Mr O’Toole said that listening to the Irish media, one would think that the Minister should be opening envelopes in Tallaght hospital to see that things went in the right direction. There were at least five stages of separation between the minister and what had happened there. Politics was being demeaned by blaming the Minister for something that happened “on the ground”.

Pearse Doherty (SF) agreed that they could not hold any Minister fully responsible for every mistake, no matter how serious.

But the problem that had occurred at this hospital had not “popped out of the blue.”

The Minister must be held accountable in relation to how she acted to ensure accountability and better governance in Tallaght hospital.

“We have seen the stripping down of the public health services over her period as Minister for Health. She has prioritised private health over public health. She has dismantled the infrastructure of what was a public health system that needed investment, energy and a bit of commitment being given to it.”

Eoghan Harris (Ind) said the Minister should not be held directly responsible for matters that were the responsibility of managers and consultants. However, people depended on her to be a reforming Minister who would take on the public sector arrogance of the HSE and the feather-bedding that had gone on. He thought she had been neglectful in that regard.

“We are all dancing around this subject, because we all know that behind this there is a culture of total arrogance in the HSE. You can see it if you go into accident and emergency. You can see they’re tapping away on computers, chatting away to each other,” Mr Harris said.