Baby’s body stored on ward - Yet another HSE indictment

Earlier this month, it was reported that the number of senior managers in the health service has grown by almost 40% since 2013.

The HSE employs twice as many directors, the top administrative grade, than it did five years ago. During that period, many waiting lists got longer, the trolley crisis continued, and the debilitating restriction on recruiting doctors or nurses was kept in place.

The scandals kept on coming too. Unfortunately for all concerned, especially the family involved, RTÉ yesterday reported on yet another that shows how utterly dysfunctional elements of our health service’s management have become.

A Donegal family was given inaccurate information about where the body of their baby, who died after a premature birth, was stored and was prevented from attending the funeral. The mother discovered that baby Eoin’s body was kept in a room in Letterkenny Hospital for four weeks, contrary to being told at delivery he was to be buried a week later.

Just as donor fatigue can limit charities’ capacity to collect money, the regular flow of scandal from the HSE is almost as numbing. Each requires emotional stamina to keep abreast of them, but they all have a common theme — no-one is held accountable, especially not the expanded management cohort. Each new scandal suggests that structural reform may not be enough to renew the HSE. Real change in culture and personnel is also necessary.