Beacon Hospital decision to vaccinate teachers wrong but 'made in good faith', review finds

The review also found there was an incorrect interpretation of the discretion available to the Beacon to make decisions on what to do with vaccine doses going to waste.

The Beacon Hospital in Dublin has apologised after a review found it was wrong to offer 20 teachers in a private school Covid-19 vaccines, without HSE approval.

The board said it still has "full confidence" in its chief executive.

On March 23, the hospital vaccinated 20 teachers at St Gerard’s School in Bray after 20 left-over AstraZeneca vaccines were at risk of going to waste.

The incident sparked public outrage, with health minister Stephen Donnelly later suspending vaccine operations at the facility as a result.

No HSE approval

An independent review into the incident has found that the decision was not in line with the national vaccine priority list and did not have HSE approval.

The review, which was conducted by Eugene McCague, former managing partner and chairman of Arthur Cox and former Board member of the HSE, found notwithstanding this incident, the process adopted for the running of the vaccination clinic was "very well thought out".

It added that the decision to vaccinate the teachers was taken by the chief executive of the hospital Michael Cullen and "no one else participated in, or contributed to, the decision".

The decision was taken in a "time-pressured situation in the mistaken belief that the risk of doses being wasted entitled Beacon to administer the doses to anyone who was available, other than patients", the report said.

Mr McCague added that "while the basis on which Mr Cullen made his decision was incorrect, I am satisfied that he made the decision in good faith".

The review also found that significant efforts were made to locate healthcare workers and others on the Beacon Campus to vaccinate with the doses, but that "nearly everyone on the campus who wished to be vaccinated had received vaccines".

Board retains confidence in chief executive

On the communication between the school and hospital at the time, Mr McCague said the use of the phrase 'HSE permission' was "unfortunate in that it may have inferred that the HSE was aware of the decision and approved of it”.

"This was not the case. I am satisfied that what Mr Cullen intended by the phrase was that, as he believed at the time, it was in line with the HSE requirement,” he added.

In a statement on Monday, the board said it regretted that the incident happened, but it retained full confidence in its chief executive.

“The board of the Beacon Hospital is proud of the work undertaken, on a voluntary basis, by the staff at Beacon Hospital and of the contribution that this work and the use of the vaccination clinic has made to the overall public health system,” the statement said.

The board said it accepts the view of the independent reviewer that “while the basis on which the decision was made to contact the school was incorrect, it was made in good faith”.

“We as a board, regret that this series of events happened, and apologise for the upset caused,” it said.

"However, having considered the detailed review and the findings of the independent reviewer, the board has determined that it retains full confidence in Michael Cullen, our CEO."