Irish Examiner View: Bureaucracy does indeed pay

Neurological delays are up 40%

The Neurological Alliance records the number of people waiting for an initial appointment with a neurologist grew by 40% over the past five years.

Long before the pandemic, inordinate delays were a characteristic of our health service. These are routinely blamed on staff shortages. Today we report on just one. The Neurological Alliance records that over the last five years, the number of people waiting for an initial appointment with a neurologist grew by 40%. Last year, 22,649 people awaited an appointment. That figure, in a rich country, is as offensive as it is bizarre, just as comparable delays are in other areas.

In recent days, when the €420,103 salary of Paul Reid, the HSE chief executive, was published outrage, contrived or otherwise, filled the air. Mr Reid is entrusted with a €20bn budget that he must manage wisely in order to ensure his salary be deemed money well spent. However, that the number of non-medical HSE staff earning over €100,000 rose by 27% from 534 in 2019 to 678 last year demands attention, especially as that figure may be higher when all pay is calculated.

This translates to 26 HSE non-medical staff earning more than €100,000 in every county in this small Republic. It also seems to push the phrases “gravy-train” and “untouchable bureaucracy” very close together. It may also contribute to the fact that our health costs are well above the EU average but our outcomes, like appointments with a neurological specialist, are well below average. Maybe we should, rather than moan about Mr Reid’s remuneration, ask him what he is doing to slow this runaway but behind schedule gravy train.