Health minister says Cork University Hospital 'has been safe all year', despite staffing concerns

Health minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has expressed confidence in the CEO of Cork University Hospital (CUH), while rejecting suggestions that staff shortages will make the hospital unsafe going into the winter.

Last month, CUH’s Jennifer Kearney told the HSE the hospital faced a shortage of more than 1,000 staff, with increasing safety risks as a result.

“I do not believe the current position is sustainable, nor do I believe it is safe to enter the winter period with the level of staffing uncertainty that currently exists,” she said.

Yesterday, Ms Carroll MacNeill told The Echo that: “By any metric that it’s possible for us to have, Cork has been safe all year; it has also recruited more than any other model four hospital in the country”.

The health minister said that CUH had hired more than 233 people this year, which was more than any other Model 4 hospital in the country “by some distance”.

More staff recruited

A Model 4 hospital is a major, tertiary-level acute care hospital that provides a full range of 24/7 medical, surgical, and critical care services, while also serving as a regional or national referral centre for specialised care.

“There has been more staff recruited to CUH than any other Model 4 hospital,” Ms Carroll MacNeill said.

“That includes Beaumont, The Mater, James’s, UHL [University Hospital Limerick], and by some distance.”

She added that more staff had been hired into the South-West region this year than any other region, including in the neighbouring Mid-West region.

The minister said that when she had heard Ms Kearney’s concerns ahead of the winter period, she had “immediately checked” with the National Patient Safety Office, the National Mortality Register, the Health Information and Quality Authority, and the HSE’s framework for safe nurse staffing and skill mix.

“There has been no increase in any of the markers that you might expect to see in a hospital that was operating unsafely,” she said.

“So, by every metric that it’s possible for us to have, Cork has been safe all year.”

Ms Carroll MacNeill was speaking yesterday at the launch of a new surgical hub at CUH.

Once fully operational, this hub is expected to deliver additional annual activity of about 8,000 day-case procedures, 5,700 minor operations, and more than 18,400 outpatient department appointments.

Speaking at the launch, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said it was vital that health infrastructure meets the needs of patients.

“By developing new facilities such as this state-of-the-art surgical hub, we are ensuring that Ireland’s healthcare system is fit for the future,” he said.

Gloss over staffing needs

Social Democrats TD Liam Quaide, a clinical psychologist who previously worked at the hospital, said it was unfortunate to hear the health minister “again make meretricious arguments about CUH’s staffing spend at a press conference after the opening”.

“Those figures gloss over the hospital’s actual staffing needs and continues to pit the Mid-West against the South-West. A minister should be uniting health regions and their staff, not scapegoating as a form of political cover.”

Labour Party senator Laura Harmon said she was “sceptical” about Government launches of new facilities before full staffing was in place.

“We need clarity about when the surgical hub will be fully staffed,” she said.