Health report - Unhealthy department

A REPORT prepared by the Department of the Taoiseach has found that some Department of Health staff have “little or nothing to do” while colleagues are overwhelmed with work.

The unpublished report also found that management appears reluctant to deal with the issue and that high levels of sick leave need to be addressed.

The department employs almost 500 people and spends around €500 million each year but hasn’t had hands-on responsibility for the health service since the HSE was established five years ago. We all want the best possible health service and understand that realising this is almost a never-ending process but that does not mean these kind of inefficiencies are tolerable.

Minister Harney has shown that she is more than capable of taking on powerful interests so it can only be a matter of time before she confronts these imbalances.