Senior hospital staff accused of accepting gifts
A report by RTÉ’s investigations unit on dealings between Eurosurgical and hospital purchasing officers and other staff in a number of hospitals also claimed commercially sensitive data was passed to the company, including competitors’ price lists, and they agreed to pay multiples of what they would have paid to a competitor.
In the case of two senior hospital staff in two Dublin hospitals, it was claimed expensive holidays were paid for by Eurosurgical, though in one of those cases a lawyer for the staff member said he reimbursed money to Alan Kane, an owner of Eurosurgical, and in the case of the other, Eurosurgical itself was quoted as saying the staff member reimbursed the cost in cash.
In another case, the programme said a contracts’ manager in a hospital sent an email to Alan Kane from his personal email telling him about an impending order from the hospital and looking for a €500 Dundrum shopping voucher. Eurosurgical Ltd told Prime Time the request was for a spot prize for a golfing society and that the voucher was €50, not €500 and was never furnished.
The Prime Time report also quoted a whistleblower former employee of Eurosurgical who told it a senior nurse at a public hospital would regularly use the Kane family apartment in Spain for her holidays.
It was claimed that state authorities have known for some time of the allegations. He informed gardaí over a year ago and both the health minister and HSE were informed, though no investigation has taken place.
HSE policy states that employees should not receive benefits of any kind from a third party which might reasonably be seen to compromise their personal judgement or integrity and that “any benefits should be of nominal value”.
