The Department of Health (DoH) and the HSE raised serious concerns about the National Treatment Purchase Fund’s (NTPF) recent decision to suspend funding to Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, believing that the move was taken without due process, the Medical Independent (MI) has learned.
Internal documents obtained by MI under Freedom of Information law show both the HSE and DoH were surprised by the step, which followed an allegation that NTPF funding for insourcing had been utilised in Beaumont Hospital during core public hours.
The HSE was only informed of the suspension by the DoH during a phone call on 11 April, after the NTPF notified Department officials. Neither the NTPF nor Beaumont had directly informed the HSE of the allegation or the funding withdrawal, according to
the documents.
In briefing notes for the HSE audit and risk committee in June, HSE Chief Financial Officer Mr Stephen Mulvany stated that “it appears [the] NTPF have pulled all funding not just in relation to the specialty where there was an allegation without any investigation or due process. This is concerning to DoH, HSE, and Beaumont.”
The HSE CEO Mr Bernard Gloster, in an email to the Executive’s board on 12 June, stressed that when the HSE learned about the issue “we had no evidence or information gathered and we simply had a verbal allegation that we were the last to be informed of”.
He confirmed the HSE’s internal audit (IA) team had since commenced a review and that “any proven wrongdoing will be referred to gardaí”.
His comments came the day after the NTPF issued a public statement on the issue. In the statement, the Fund confirmed that insourcing had been reinstated at Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) after CHI provided assurances it was complying with NTPF protocols.
The NTPF also disclosed that insourcing at “another public hospital” had been suspended over “potential financial irregularities”. It said both the DoH and the HSE had been notified of the decision.
Beaumont was not named in the NTPF’s statement, but was subsequently identified through media reports. Mr Gloster questioned why the NTPF had publicly highlighted Beaumont’s case at all while the audit remained ongoing.
“The decision by [the] NTPF was to issue a statement which confirmed they, having received assurances, were restoring funding to CHI insourcing,” according to Mr Gloster’s email.
“There is no rationale or understanding as to why they now needed to issue additional [detail] relevant to ‘another public hospital’, ie, Beaumont… the difference between CHI and Beaumont is that the former had a report… to rely on and the latter doesn’t until IA complete their investigation.”
He added that he had encouraged Beaumont to formally request the restoration of NTPF funding, in line with the assurances that had led to the resumption of funding at CHI.
Mr Gloster also said he was “most surprised” by aspects of the NTPF’s statement and noted he had “no recollection of [the] NTPF having ever contacted me in writing or by phone about any matters associated with wait list initiatives concerns”.
In its statement on 11 June, the NTPF had said it would “urgently” work with the Department and HSE on the issue and had written to all public hospitals to seek assurances of compliance with its rules.
A spokesperson for the HSE told MI the audit remains “ongoing” and is “expected to be completed shortly”.
The HSE has committed to ending insourcing in public hospitals by next year.
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