Health

Taking disciplinary action in healthcare can be lengthy process due to complexity of employment-related disputes

There have been a number of cases in which people in high-profile positions at a healthcare facility that experienced controversy stepped down without any findings of wrongdoing being made against them

Overcrowding at University Hospital Limerick. Aoife Johnston (16) died after waiting 15 hours for antibiotics to treat suspected sepsis in December 2022
Shauna Bowers's picture
Shauna Bowers
Fri Aug 30 2024 - 06:00

The overcrowded conditions in University Hospital Limerick (UHL) often spark public outcry when they are highlighted in the media due to the risk they pose to patient safety. But perhaps this was seen most acutely following the death of 16-year-old Aoife Johnston who died after waiting 15 hours for antibiotics to treat suspected sepsis in December 2022.

In response the Health Service Executive (HSE) commissioned former chief justice Frank Clarke to conduct an independent report into the circumstances that led to Aoife’s death. The report has been completed, and is currently with senior HSE officials. Speaking earlier this year about what would happen following the report, Bernard Gloster, chief executive of the HSE, said: “Where there is accountability people can be absolutely assured I will discharge that.”

But taking disciplinary action can be a lengthy process due to the complexity of employment-related disputes. This is significantly more difficult in the public sector than the private sector, sources working in employment law said, particularly among those in more higher ranking positions due to the legislation that governs their employment.

One example of a long-running employment dispute in the health system is a case often referred to as the Áras Attracta scandal. The scandal, which refers to the mistreatment of intellectually disabled adults in a home in Swinford, Co Mayo, was broadcast on RTÉ Investigates in 2014. In the wake of the programme an internal disciplinary process began with a total of 17 staff being identified.

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The matter came before the High Court in February 2016, when five psychiatric nurses sought injunctions restraining the HSE from continuing with the process carried out by the investigation team. The High Court granted the injunctions, ordering the HSE to comply with its “trust in care” and disciplinary procedures. None of these nurses were subject to criminal proceedings.

The final report into the allegations was not completed until 2020, six years after the allegations first emerged. A spokeswoman for the HSE confirmed the trust in care process has now concluded.

But there have been a number of cases in which people in high-profile positions at a healthcare facility that experienced controversy stepped down without any findings of wrongdoing being made against them.

In 2010 the then chief executive of Tallaght Hospital, Prof Kevin Conlon, resigned just seven months after taking up the post, stating he did not have time to fulfil the role in light of other commitments. His resignation, which saw him return to medical practice in the hospital, came in the same year it emerged almost 58,000 X-rays had not been reported by consultant radiologists there between 2005 and 2009.

More recently this year Eilish Hardiman stepped down as chief executive of Children’s Health Ireland (CHI), having held the position since 2013. CHI has faced significant political pressure in recent years, particularly in relation to scoliosis surgeries for children.

Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly commissioned an audit into how CHI spent €19 million allocated specifically to bring down waiting lists for orthopaedic and spinal surgeries, but found this money was being used more broadly across the group. The board of the hospital had sought to have Ms Hardiman reappointed as chief executive, but Mr Donnelly did not support the move as she had already been in the role for 10 years.

Ms Hardiman has taken up a new role in the children’s hospital group as head of strategic programme director following a “mediation process”. However, the Department of Public Expenditure has said there are “potential ongoing legal and operational risks associated with this case”.