HEALTH NEWS:THE HSE South has been asked to cut its legal spending and get better value for money after it emerged the organisation had spent more than €15 million on legal fees in the past four and a half years.
The call came from Cork East Labour deputy, Sean Sherlock, via a parliamentary question, after he obtained details of payments by the HSE South to solicitors and barristers since 2006.
According to the figures, the HSE South, comprising the former Southern Health Board and South Eastern Health Board, paid €14.4 million to solicitors and €1.5 million to barristers between 2006 and 2009 for legal services and advice.
Topping the list of solicitor firms is Comyn Kelleher Tobin of Cork which got €5.3 million followed by Nolan Farrell and Goff of Waterford which received €1.6 million and Binchy Solicitors of Clonmel which got €888,000.
Other firms that got substantial sums include BCM Hanby Wallace of Dublin (€630,00), John A Sinnott of Enniscorthy (€501,000) and Frank Buttimer of Cork (€439,000).
Topping the list of payments to barristers is senior counsel,Felix McEnroy, who received €348,000 followed by William Fitzgerald who was paid €122,000.
Mr Sherlock said he was astounded by the amount of money spent and questioned whether there was a rush to law by the health agency particularly with regard to the non-payment of hospital charges.
“I tabled the question after I was approached by a young couple who got a solicitor’s letter because they owed the HSE some €5,000 – they thought they were covered by their Bupa policy when their young son had to go to Cork University Hospital.
“As it transpired, the Bupa policy didn’t cover them and the HSE moved very quickly through a firm of solicitors who warned them that they would face legal action if they didn’t pay immediately.
“That case suggests there’s a rush to law by the HSE in particular in relation to non-payment of hospital charges – I would have thought that some informal payment arrangements could be made through hospital administration.”
The HSE South strongly rejected Mr Sherlock’s claims and said that more than half of the organisations’s legal fees were spent on childcare matters while any unpaid hospital bills were pursued sensitively.
“More than half of the HSE South’s legal fees are spent on childcare matters in the context of the HSE’s statutory responsibility under the Child Care Act 1991 in relation to childcare and protection,” said the HSE in its statement.
The remainder of the expenditure went on a range of matters from contracts, food hygiene, employment and consent to treatment issues, it said.