New team to tackle hospital’s problems

A COMPLETE overhaul in the management of the worst performing hospital in the country is to take place.

This follows a meeting between the Minister for Health James Reilly and the Regional Director of Operations for the HSE West area, John Hennessy, where the continuing poor performance of University College Hospital Galway (UCHG) was discussed.

UCHG continues to feature bottom of the list in the HSE’s Healthstat survey in the 29 acute hospitals evaluated over the past three months.

Now the HSE is to overhaul the management of the Galway University Hospitals Group across four hospital sites: UCHG, which includes University Hospital Galway and Merlin Park University Hospital; Roscommon County Hospital; and Portiuncula Hospital, Ballinasloe.

The new three-strong managerial group, headed up by a chief executive with an annual salary of €145,959, is to oversee a budget of €300 million per annum in a group employing 4,500 people catering for a catchment area of a population of about 1m people.

A spokesman for Dr Reilly said yesterday: “The minister has been very concerned about the poor performance of UCHG, which has to be related to the gaps in management. The minister is determined to have this addressed.”

The spokesman said that Dr Reilly has discussed the issue at the highest levels of the HSE and with the regional director of operations in the HSE West area.

The HSE has also advertised for a chief financial officer and a chief operating officer for the UCHG and the aggregate salaries of the three posts range from €336,966 to €379,129 per annum.