Sir, – The board of St Vincent’s Healthcare Group (SVHG) has always been clear in our determination to evolve as a secular organisation delivering world-class healthcare services in Ireland to provide the best outcomes for our patients and their families .
Despite the attempts of some commentators to suggest otherwise, this is precisely what has been achieved with last week’s transfer of the Religious Sisters of Charity (RSC) shareholding to St Vincent’s Holding CLG (SV CLG) and the changes , particularly in the ethical requirements, made in the SVHG constitution. SV CLG is a not-for-profit company with charitable status governed by Irish law.
It is not a public juridic body and there is no vehicle in the constitutions of SVHG or SV CLG by which any religious authority or control can be exerted. This is a fact.
Unlike other Catholic healthcare organisations, at no stage over the past seven years of negotiations between the SVHG and RSC was the use of a public judicial person to maintain any linkage between SVHG and the Catholic Church contemplated by either party. Moreover, no negotiations took place between SVHG, the Catholic Church or the Vatican and no instructions (hidden, implied or otherwise) were conveyed to the SVHG board in relation to SV CLG.
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The role of SV CLG is to, inter alia, advance healthcare in Ireland through its ownership of SVHG by promoting medical education, medical research and patient care in all areas of medicine. The active governance, management and ownership of our three hospitals – St Vincent’s University Hospital, St Vincent’s Private Hospital and St Michael’s – will continue to be the responsibility of the vastly experienced SVHG board and the highly qualified management and staff who constantly strive to achieve the best outcomes for our patients and their families.
The RSC did not appoint the current directors of SV CLG and will not have any role in the appointment of future directors. As is standard practice, the board nominated the initial directors with the required skill sets in such areas as finance, healthcare and social care. These nominations were confirmed after consultation with reputable external bodies in the relevant fields of legal, educational, medical and financial areas.
This additional safeguard in the SV CLG constitution ensures that only competent and experienced individuals are appointed to the SV board.
Relocating the National Maternity Hospital (NMH) maternity activities to Elm Park will further sever a link with the Catholic Church and its influence on the delivery of maternity services in Ireland, as the NMH at Elm Park DAC will become part of a secular SVHG. Thus the current role of the chair in the NMH trust which is reserved for the Archbishop of Dublin – active or otherwise – will be removed.
Bespoke governance arrangements ensure special powers in its constitution reserved to the board of the NMH DAC will protect the clinical, operational and financial independence of the new maternity hospital which will have its own separate service arrangement with the HSE.
As agreed between the State, NMH and SVHG there will be three representatives from each stakeholder on the board and the Minister will hold a golden share to guarantee independence of governance.
Finally, it is time to debunk the myth that the values of Mary Aikenhead are some secret code for Catholic control. Mary Aikenhead founded St Vincent’s Hospital in 1834 to serve the poor, treating patients regardless of religious persuasion. From its humble beginnings, SVHG has grown to be one of Ireland’s most important tertiary-care acute adult hospitals with over 500,000 patient visits annually. Many organisations acknowledge their founding values in their constitution as well as the continuation of the SVHG purpose of delivering the best outcomes for our patients and their families.
SVHG’s founding values are dignity, compassion, justice, quality and advocacy – values found in many institutions across the world and are not “owned” by any secular or religious organisation and cannot be interpreted as any attempt to directly or indirectly impose Catholic ethos.
This new maternity hospital will mean that women’s healthcare in Ireland will be delivered in a custom-built dedicated facility designed to deliver 21st-century healthcare on a campus that already offers a wide range of sophisticated medical, surgical and diagnostic facilities.
It should be built without delay. – Yours, etc,
JAMES MENTON,
Chairman,
St Vincent’s
Healthcare Group,
Dublin 4.
Sir, – We were told by the powers that be that the National Children’s Hospital would be built on the Mater hospital site. Next we were then told it would be built on the St James’s site. Since then we have been told many different stories about when it will be opened and how much it will cost. The truth is: no one knows.
Now the powers that be are telling us that the National Maternity Hospital on the St Vincent’s site will be free of all religious interference. Is it any wonder this is very hard to believe? – Yours, etc,
CHRIS FITZPATRICK,
Dublin 6.