HSE chose patients over 'financial risk' in ventilator orders, spending watchdog hears

None of the 467 ventilators received from China were ever used due to issues with their quality. File picture: AP/John Minchillo

The HSE's chief financial officer has told the State's spending watchdog that the HSE "chose to put patient risk ahead of financial risk" in its efforts to buy ventilators at the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic.

The HSE ordered 3,500 ventilators at the outbreak of the pandemic, 10 times more than what was needed and 1,500 more than had been officially sanctioned.