Government ‘failing’ in its duty of care to Cork and Kerry people, says Gould

Over the past five years, the State has paid out more than €305m in compensation or litigation claims in the HSE South West regional health area, new figures show.

Between 2020 and 2024 inclusive, the State Claims Agency (SCA), which has a statutory remit to manage personal injury claims on behalf of the State, paid out a total of €305,354,724 for claims incurred in HSE South West, which comprises Cork and Kerry.

The figures were issued to Thomas Gould, Sinn Féin TD for Cork North Central, by health minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill.

Ms Carroll MacNeill said the figures covered the damages paid, legal costs for both the plaintiffs and the SCA, as well as expert costs, and includes Vat.

The damages were for “open and closed claims, and a small number of incidents and inquests, reported against the HSE South West region under the Clinical Indemnity Scheme,” the minister said.

In 2020, the SCA paid out €54.4m in Cork and Kerry, €106.4m in 2021, €36.1m in 2022, €60.3m in 2023, and €48m last year.

'OBSCENE'

Describing the sums as “obscene”, Mr Gould said they were the direct result of a health service that had been mismanaged to the point of chaos.

The northside TD claimed that staff were working in impossible conditions, with hospital infrastructure not properly maintained and, he said, staff and patient safety are at risk.

“The Government have a duty of care to the people of Cork and Kerry,” Mr Gould said. “They are failing in that. We are being promised the sun, the moon, and the stars — elective hospitals and primary care centres that never appear.

“Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have run our health service into the ground, and sums like this are the consequence.”

Mr Gould said the “eye-watering figures” involved in the payouts constituted proof that the health service in Cork and Kerry was “on its knees”.

“Long waiting times on lists and in emergency departments is a contributing factor to these claims,” Mr Gould said.

“Everything that can be done must be done to minimise claims and reduce cases of medical negligence.

“We must look at the value for money and efficiency of these systems. The only solution is to invest in our health service and properly fund our health settings.”

Fianna Fáil TD for Cork South Central Séamus McGrath said the figures involved were substantial.

“Obviously, where there is negligence, people are entitled to compensation, but it’s incumbent upon the HSE and the Department of Health to reduce, where possible, cases of negligence,” Mr McGrath said.

“The HSE and the Department of Health need seriously to review their practices to reduce down the volume of negligence cases.

“This isn’t just about money, at the end of the day, this about people’s health.

“The financial cost is one element, but if there is negligence, there is also a personal and health cost, and possibly a tragedy.”

Mr McGrath added he believed a thorough review of practices within the HSE needed to be put in place as a matter of urgency.

“Safeguards need to be put in place urgently to reduce the volume of cases and the amounts claimed,” he said.

Nationally, over the same five-year period from 2020 to 2024 inclusive, the SCA paid out more than €1.616bn in settling medical negligence or service failure-related claims.

The total was paid out in that time through a combination of legal costs for both the agency and plaintiffs, expert costs, and — overwhelmingly — damages.

Of that, €1.105bn was paid out in damages.

Across the same period, legal and expert witness costs added €411.4m to the total bill for processing those claims.

A HSE South West spokesperson said: “HSE South West is committed to continuously improving our services and making the health system safer for our communities over seven days a week.”