Irish Examiner view: Paul Reid’s exit heaps more woe on HSE

Reid was appointed as chief executive of the HSE in May 2019 but within six months unwittingly became one of Ireland’s prime defenders against the deadly threat of Covid-19

Tue, 28 Jun, 2022 - 05:00

The tributes paid to soon-to-retire HSE chief Paul Reid yesterday were wholehearted, but Mr Reid’s decision leaves many questions about the future of the organisation he led so well and the Irish health service in general, as well as the inability of the sector to hold on to top officials.

Mr Reid was appointed as chief executive of the HSE in May 2019 but within six months of a tenure that was supposed to see him overseeing radical reforms of the health system, he unwittingly became one of Ireland’s prime defenders against the deadly threat of Covid-19 and, in the middle of that, in May 2021, he also had to deal with a ransomware cyberattack on the HSE that crippled essential systems.

However, the pandemic completely stymied the reform challenges facing the HSE boss and his team and left them powerless to cope with such pressing issues as the numbers on trolleys in emergency departments, growing waiting list numbers, spiralling costs at the National Children’s Hospital, the complete stalling of the Sláintecare plan, and ongoing discussions about a potential decentralisation of the HSE with a proposed return of the much-maligned health board system.

With questions also being asked about the future of Health Minister Stephen Donnelly, the health service is facing into an existential crisis about who will lead it to the promised land of radical reform.

Not only is Mr Reid departing two years ahead of schedule in December, but Laura Magahy, the head of Sláintecare who was appointed at the same time as Mr Reid, is no longer in that position; chief medical officer Tony Holohan and his deputy, Ronan McGlynn, have both resigned; and former HSE chief operating officer Anne O’Connor now works with health insurer Vhi.

Mr Reid is currently engaged in a spat with Mr Donnelly over the future of the emergency department at Navan Hospital; damning figures have emerged from Limerick University Hospital about its emergency department; and questions are being raised about the €21bn annual HSE budget.

With all that in mind, the future for the health service does not look bright.

Having lurched from one crisis to another over the course of its history, the HSE is facing even greater uncertainty than ever before and there is a grave need for the authorities to find lasting solutions and not those of the sticking-plaster variety that they have thus far specialised in.

Paul Hosford: Paul Reid's early departure another blow for HSE