St Vincent's University Hospital faces 20% fund cut in pay row

The HSE has warned St Vincent’s University Hospital that it will slash its funding by 20% from Friday if it doesn’t comply with public pay policy.

But in spite of this last warning — which could ultimately impact on patient services — St Vincent’s said it is highly unlikely to meet the deadline.

A hospital spokesman said last month the HSE gave it until the end of March, not the end of this week, to comply with the strict pay rules.

And pointing to a quote from HSE director general Tony O’Brien to support the position, the spokesman claimed the health service hierarchy had moved the goalposts without warning.

Last night, it was confirmed that four of the five voluntary hospitals and charities who were not compliant last week have since complied. These are St James’s Hospital, Brothers of Charity South and South East, and St John of Gods.

Referring to St Vincent’s, the HSE said: “Should they fail to meet this requirement, the HSE will proceed with a 20% funding withhold with effect from February 21, 2014.”

This standoff has been caused by significant over-payments to top executives and managers in the groups, which as section 38 agencies are mainly funded by the taxpayer.

Last Friday, the HSE revealed that it was giving five section 38 health agencies still in breach of pay scales for top executives seven days to meet the health service’s demands.

During an RTÉ radio interview on January 17, the hospital noted that Mr O Brien said: “When we are satisfied, we will be satisfied, but until we are, then we are at odds on this matter.

“We said absolutely that this has to be resolved by the end of March.

“If it’s not resolved by the end of March, it will call into question some of the fundamentals of our relationship with them.”

St Vincent’s is due to meet with HSE officials before the end of this week .

During tense Dáil public accounts committee interrogations in December and January, the hospital admitted it is paying its chief executive, Nicky Jermyn, €136,591 a year in addition to his €136,282 HSE salary and a €19,796 car allowance.