Cork hospital CEO and HSE boss to appear before Dáil committee to address patient safety concerns 

The Public Accounts Committee has called on the chief executive of Cork University Hospital (CUH) and the top health official in the HSE South West to appear before it, amid growing concerns around patient safety at the hospital.

It comes as a Cork TD has accused the HSE of “reckless incompetence” for closing step-down beds in the midst of an overcrowding crisis.

Safety concerns were raised publicly in August when a letter from  CUH CEO Jennifer Kearney to senior HSE officials was leaked to media. 

In that letter, Ms Kearney had warned that a shortfall of about 1,000 staff meant the hospital would not be safe going into winter.

Ms Kearney then asked for the prioritisation of 172 posts to mitigate winter safety concerns.

Health minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has repeatedly dismissed concerns around staffing, saying CUH has hired twice as many staff as had been budgeted for.

Increasing controversy 

Amidst increasing controversy around CUH, the committee yesterday took the unusual decision to request that Ms Kearney and HSE South West CEO Andy Phillips appear before it during its planned December 3 meeting.

The day after Ms Kearney’s letter was leaked, Mr Phillips falsely claimed he had been instructed by the Taoiseach’s office to in effect reprimand Ms Kearney. 

Mr Phillips has subsequently apologised “unreservedly” for the claim.

The PAC does not have the power to compel executives who are not accounting officers to attend meetings, but HSE chief executive Anne O’Connor - who is an accounting officer - is due before that same meeting, and it has been requested that Ms Kearney and Mr Phillips accompany her.

Cork Fianna Fáil TD Séamus McGrath, who serves on the PAC, said it had been his proposal that Ms Kearney and Mr Phillips be asked to appear before the committee.

“Given the public debate about the resources available to CUH to meet the exceptional demands on its services and the significant amount of public funding involved, it is important that the PAC focuses on this issue."

On Tuesday, Conor Deasy, clinical director of emergency medicine and acute care at CUH, said that the closure of as many as 22 step-down beds was “dangerous” and was contributing to emergency department overcrowding.

Cork East Social Democrats TD Liam Quaide said it was difficult to put into words “the level of reckless incompetence involved in closing transitional care beds in the midst of a deepening overcrowding crisis in CUH”.

HSE Southwest said 22 beds had been available on Wednesday “across community, rehabilitation, long-term care and acute facilities in Cork, and similar capacity remains available”.