Planned Mid-West hospital trust ‘guaranteed to fail’

A senior consultant has described plans by the HSE to establish a trust to oversee the operation of six hospitals in the Mid-West as “rampant managerialism” and “guaranteed to fail”.

Consultant obstetrician Dr Gerry Burke was reacting to plans by Ann Doherty, chief executive of the Mid-West acute hospital network, to establish a trust to oversee the work of Limerick Regional, St John’s Hospital, Ennis General, Nenagh General, the Maternity Hospital, Limerick, and Croom Orthopaedic that has a combined budget this year of €200m.

Ms Doherty presented a discussion paper on her plans to Limerick Regional Hospital’s medical board this week where Dr Burke was in attendance.