Madam, - Systemic maladministration within the Department of Health and health boards has been identified by the Minister for Health as lying at the heart of the illegal taking of money from the elderly in State-run nursing homes. The same maladministration is responsible for the current malaise throughout the health service. The Minister is to be congratulated for articulating in public what those of us working in the health service have long known.
I had personal experience of this systemic maladministration as master of the National Maternity Hospital from 1991 to 1998. Dealing with the Department of Health was a bizarre experience, entering Hawkins House akin to walking into a parallel universe not unlike the Mad Hatter's Tea Party in Alice in Wonderland.
The problems in the health service are there for all to see. There is a shortage of beds in hospitals and nursing homes, and a shortage of nurses, doctors and support staff to deal with patients, both in hospitals and in general practice. The solution, therefore, is not complicated but would be helped by less mumbo-jumbo generated by management consultants and a more practical approach.
By identifying the core problem the Minister has taken the first step. The next step is to enlist the support of those most familiar with the workings of the Health Services: doctors, nurses and patients. - Yours, etc.,
PETER BOYLAN, MAO, FRCPI, FRCOG, National Maternity Hospital, Holles Street, Dublin 2.