Hospital repays cost of food meant for less well-off

A Cork hospital, which used a food meant for people in poverty worth almost €22,000 to feed patients, has said that it believed at the time it was eligible for the scheme.

Mercy University Hospital in Cork City has repaid the value of the cheese and other goods it received from the Department of Agriculture’s Food for the Most Deprived programme between 2010 and 2013.

Following a newspaper report at the weekend, a statement on behalf of MUH said the hospital had understood it was eligible for the cheese, rice, and butter it received.

“As a city centre hospital treating mostly public patients, there was a belief historically that the hospital complied with the terms and conditions of the scheme,” the statement said.

“During the four years it was involved in the scheme, Mercy University Hospital complied with all the record keeping and reporting requirements of the scheme.”

It said the items received, primarily cheese, were used in the in-house catering department.

“The value of the goods received during the entire period was €21,871, which has been fully repaid,” it said.

The hospital is a registered charity and not-for-profit organisation, and caters mostly for public patients, including medical card holders. However, almost one third of its patients are fee-paying private patients, whose health insurance companies pay hundreds of euro a night for their overnight stays and treatment.

“The hospital is now aware it does not satisfy the scheme’s criteria and whilst the earlier decision to participate was made in good faith, the hospital has ceased all participation in the scheme,” it said.

While hospital sources suggest the repayment was planned before the imminent publication of the weekend story was known, it is unclear how or when MUH became aware of its non-compliance with the scheme.

The scheme ended last year, when cheese, butter and rice worth around €2.6m from agricultural surpluses was distributed to Irish charities. It is being replaced by a changed scheme under new EU rules, which some organisations raised concerns about last year because the overall value was to be decreased in light of dwindling food surpluses.

More than 200 tonnes of cheese was distributed in both 2010 and 2011.