Councillors stunned by HSE attitude

COUNCILLORS on a HSE forum were astonished to be told to find out for themselves where cutbacks had been made and only then would senior health officials confirm or deny they had taken place.

The meeting of the HSE’s south forum in Cork descended into a farce yesterday when 39 county councillors representing a population of 1.2 million were basically told go off and do their own homework.

The councillors, who come from as far afield as Carlow, Wexford and Kerry, had demanded that the HSE’s financial controller appear at yesterday’s meeting to explain where the cuts had been made and why there had been a financial overrun in the first place.

The HSE south region has overrun its budget by at least €24 million.

Tempers flared when it became apparent the financial controller hadn’t been asked by senior HSE officials to attend the meeting.

Cllr John Gilroy, a psychiatric nurse, said public accountability was vital and demanded that senior managers outline what cuts had been made to services.

He received the backing of several colleagues, including Cllr Tim Lombard, who said that it was the senior managers’ jobs to inform members of precisely what was happening.

Cllr Aileen Pyne said there was a perception that public representatives were being “fobbed off” by HSE officials. Mr Gilroy added that the officials’ attitude reminded him of a “Picasso painting full of surrealism”.

It was eventually agreed to hold a special meeting in Kilkenny on December 13, which will be dedicated to a debate on cutbacks and staff employment embargos.

Mr Gilroy read a long list of alleged cutbacks given to him by the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO), but wasn’t told whether they were true or not.

The list included a claim that a number of nursing home inspections had been cancelled in the Cork region to save money. He demanded a full list be drawn up by HSE officials for the December 13 meeting.

However, he and other councillors were stunned to hear Ger Crowley, director of the regional health office (south), say that councillors themselves should raise concerns which officials would then respond to.

Mr Gilroy said it was a farce to expect every councillor on the forum to ring around their local hospitals and a compile a list.

After the meeting he said he would contact the IMO for their assistance in helping to identify areas where services had been cut.