South/Southwest Hospital Group chairperson resigns over lack of reform

UCC professor Geraldine McCarthy has resigned as chairperson of the South/Southwest Hospital Group Board.

Prof McCarthy was appointed to the position in 2013 by Minister for Health at the time Dr James Reilly.

In her resignation letter to Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly, seen by RTÉ News, Prof McCarthy said it was “regrettable” that the “much needed” reform of the Health Service had not been delivered.

The UCC Professor also said the group was no closer to the required reform than they were six years ago.

Geraldine McCarthy was founding Professor and Dean of the Catherine McAuley School of Nursing and Midwifery which was established in University College Cork (UCC) in 1994. 

From 2010 to 2011 she held the post as Acting Head of the College of Medicine and Health at UCC providing strategic leadership in research and educational programs in Medicine, Dentistry, Therapies, Pharmacy, Nursing and Midwifery. 

She has held a variety of other positions in Ireland, the UK, USA and Canada. She holds a MEd from TCD, MSN and PhD degrees in Nursing from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.

She has been a member of a number of national and EU bodies including the Commission on Nursing, The Nurse Education Forum and the Task Force on undergraduate medical education, as well as the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) and the Fulbright Commission. 

She has published over 120 papers and has presented at national and international conferences. Her research interests include those associated with management and chronic disease self-care especially in elderly care. 

In addition, she was a member of the non-executive Advisory Board for the Reconfiguration of the Health Services in the Southern Region.