Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Bill. I have a question for the Minister and would like a reply in writing if he does not mind. It relates to HSE employees past and present. I am very disturbed that within the HSE there is a Q-pulse system where staff can make complaints regarding wrongful practice. How many Q-pulse cases have not been acted on and closed out in the HSE? How many Q-pulse submissions have there been annually over the past ten years? What percentage required significant action? How many patients died or were significantly injured and seriously harmed, including preventable injuries, during surgery? Will this Bill protect them?

University Hospital Limerick is required to ensure that serious reportable incidents are managed, reported and investigated within four months in line with the HSE safety incident management policy. How many staff members have left their position or been forced out of their role or transferred to new locations within the hospital system? How many have been promoted for their silence? How many of their colleagues were demoted as a result? How many had to sign non-disclosure agreements?

When this happens, staff are isolated and branded troublemakers even though they are just raising concerns within the hospital. These issues have been raised across all positions in the hospital and across the whole UHL group. Who is responsible for giving instructions for these cases not being examined? The exit interviews in the HSE have highlighted so many issues within the hospital that are never acted on or followed up. Under the new European directive wrong-doing must be investigated. Diligent follow-up is required.

The new legislation is to ensure that there can be no penalties made against a whistleblower. This is very difficult to prove, particularly when up against a significant corporation. The burden of proof rests on the whistleblower who is often unable to take on the large organisation. Being a whistleblower is a lonely and frightening road to take. To date, whistleblowers have helped make Ireland a better and safer place to work. There is a tremendous bravery and courage on the part of whistleblowers which needs to be recognised in this legislation. These are people who are not afraid to tell the truth.

In 2014 Professor Colette Cowen was asked to take up a position as a CEO by the then Minister, Deputy Varadkar, and Tony O'Brien. Were the proper protocols followed? She had been chief director of nursing and midwifery at the Western and North Hospital Group during the investigation of the death of Savita Halappanavar. At the coroner's court in Galway, the coroner asked why the file had entries added after the case. The coroner recommended:

No additions should be made to the medical records of a deceased whose death is the subject of a coroner's inquiry. Additions may inhibit the inquiry and prohibit the making of recommendations which may prevent further fatalities. And that should be applied nationally.

There are questions for the HSE workers. Had the CEO been made aware of similar cases or been notified of tampering with records of patients' medical notes during the system analysed in the investigation in University Hospital Limerick when patients were harmed during procedures in the hospital? On 29 May 2020 - I know the date because it was my 50th birthday - we were not permitted to have my birthday party with my family and friends. However, on that day, there was a retirement party in UHL for Dr. Gerry Burke. Professor Paul Burke, the CEO, Professor Cowen, and others attended. There were no masks or 2 m distancing and no accountability or sanctions against management. Photographs were posted on Twitter before being removed subsequently. When Leo Varadkar was Minister he said that if managers did not do their job, heads would roll. The Minister, Deputy Harris, said that he would shine a light on management. What about the CEOs? He promised managers would be removed if they did not do their job. What about CEOs? How much is this management structure costing? In the past ten years how many patients have died in County Clare and Tipperary due to the lack of an emergency department near them? According to a study by the Department of Health, 1,000 people have died while being transported to UHL while they passed closed hospitals. What price does this Government put on people's lives? That is what I am asking. I need to go on the record with this and I want an answer in writing from the Minister.

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