Concerns about the financial sustainability of Cheshire Ireland, breaches of public pay policy at St John of God, and a 1,000% increase in overtime payments to mental health nurses are among the damning findings of a series of HSE internal audits, published yesterday.

The behaviour of St John of God (SJOG) in paying hundreds of thousands in secret salary top-ups and lump sum compensation to senior managers to circumvent public pay policy has raised “fundamental issues of trust” with its funder, the HSE.