Sign up now for ease of access to The Medical Independent, Ireland’s most frequently published medical newspaper, delivering award-winning news and investigative reporting.
Established in 2010, along with its sister publication The Medical Independent, our stated aim is to investigate and analyse the major issues affecting healthcare and the medical profession in Ireland. The Medical Independent has won a number of awards for its investigative journalism, and its stories are frequently picked up by national digital, broadcast and print media. The Medical Independent is published by GreenCross Publishing.
Address: Top Floor, 111 Rathmines Road Lr, Dublin 6
Tel: 353 (01) 441 0024
GreenCross Publishing is owned by Graham Cooke.
Concerns about the reporting arrangements and financial status of voluntary hospitals within Hospital Groups have been identified in operational plans for 2019, which were recently published by the HSE.
The Ireland East Hospital Group (IEHG) Operational Plan 2019 states that the high number of voluntary hospitals within the group present “unique challenges… as each entity has its own corporate governance arrangements and legal obligations”.
Out of the 11 hospitals in the IEHG, six are voluntary: St Michael’s Hospital, Dun Laoghaire; St Vincent’s University Hospital; National Maternity Hospital; Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital; Mater Misericordiae Hospital; and Cappagh Orthopaedic Hospital.
“The current arrangement whereby the Hospital Groups have been established on an administrative basis gives rise to challenges, primarily around accountability and governance and primary legislation is required to mitigate these risks,” CEO of the IEHG Ms Mary Day stated in her foreword of the report.
The report states that the issuing of reports by the Acute Operations Division of the HSE in respect of voluntary hospitals, which exclude pension costs and associated income, is “problematic” for the group.
“Our voluntary hospitals engage with the IEHG with regard to the totality of their finances and therefore the national financial system does not produce the appropriate inclusive reports in order to allow us to rely on the HSE Financial System to manage our hospitals,” according to the report.
The report adds that given the “carrying accumulated deficits in the voluntary hospitals” and the increasing service demands, “it is expected that the management of the cash position will be challenging in 2019”.
Similar concerns were identified in the operational plans for the HSE South/South West Hospital Group, Dublin Midlands Group, and RCSI Hospitals Group.
HSE expenditure on medical/ dental agency staff in statutory acute and community settings was...
Over eight months since the start of talks on a new consultant contract, doctors’ representative...
The ICGP is examining alternative pathways for entry into general practice training as part of efforts...
In December, the HSE released part of an external review into the case of 'Brandon', a...
The evidence on doctor burnout “should scare us and concern us”, the Director of the RCSI...
A review of public health governance structures and addressing “longstanding” IT infrastructure...
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.