Minister gives full support to HSE head

PRESS CONFERENCE:MINISTER FOR Health Mary Harney yesterday expressed full support for Prof Brendan Drumm and his management team at the Health Service Executive (HSE), despite the strong criticism of the organisation in a report on the Portlaoise breast cancer controversy.

At a press conference yesterday, Ms Harney said serious weaknesses in governance, management and communications had resulted in unnecessary anxiety for many women. She said however that steps would be taken to ensure that similar events did not happen again.

Prof Drumm, meanwhile, he would not be resigning over the controversy. He told a separate press conference that the Fitzgerald report on the HSE's actions had not held any member of the management team to be accountable.

"The question of whether I resign is a matter for the Minister and the board," he said. "When they decide that they do not support the transformation programme or that confidence in me is lost, I will have no difficulty in taking that message on board."

Ms Harney and Prof Drumm both apologised to the women affected by the breast cancer controversy
in Portlaoise. Prof Drumm said the way the review of services in Portlaoise had been carried out "was not up to the standard that was acceptable".

He also said that Dr Visa Moodley, the consultant radiologist who had been placed on administrative leave and who on Tuesday was invited back to work, had experienced "a remarkably trying time". He said the HSE was determined that lessons would be learned from the experience in relation to Portlaoise and that similar situations would be handled appropriately in the future.

Ms Harney said patients' interests would be the overriding priority in managing incidents of this type in the future. "While we aim to minimise errors, we cannot eliminate them. Where clinical reviews are necessary, patients deserve to hear promptly if they are or might be involved. They deserve to hear this
individually in a way which respects their right to patient confidentiality, not through the media or political debates."

She said follow-up care and treatment, if necessary, would be the first priority. "Reviews will be managed with the clinical needs of patients to the fore from start to finish," she said.

Ms Harney said that while she had full confidence in Prof Drumm and his officials, she was keen to ensure that the appropriate management team was in place and clear lines of accountability were set out.

Gaps in senior management had to be addressed and after three years of operation, it was unacceptable for the HSE to have a number of senior management personnel in acting capacities, she said. "Until we get those matters right, clearly issues will arise from time to time," she added.

The Minister said she had asked the HSE board to adopt an interim serious incident protocol  immediately "I have also asked the board to consider whether the lessons arising from the systemic weaknesses of governance and management which have been identified in relation to the events at Portlaoise have wider application across the HSE.

"To this end, the chairman [of the HSE] and I have discussed the need to optimise the HSE's operational capability by addressing issues such as robust governance and management structures,  processes and procedures, clear reporting relationships and lines of accountability, having permanent top level managers in key posts, good systems of delegation and a strong sense of corporate identity which permeates all levels of the organisation."