HSE tried to block article on how staff saved money

THE Health Service Executive tried to block the publication of a magazine article detailing the innovation of an occupational therapist who saved the HSE more than €2.3m in the last two years and cut the waiting list for essential equipment in his area from 600 to zero.

Two years ago, Damien Kidd became frustrated with a system which saw €1m spent annually on new equipment in the Kildare and west Wicklow area even though perfectly recyclable equipment was lying idle in attics and back gardens.

“The old system required us to place orders through the purchasing system and private companies would supply the equipment,” he told trade union IMPACT’s membership magazine Work and Life. “The invoices were always very high and I felt strongly that we needed to change how we did things. In the boom years companies would take weeks to come back to you, and that added to the waiting time for clients. It was wasteful and inefficient.”