Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has confirmed that three members of the Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) board stepped down today, while another had resigned the previous week, reports RTE.
“We have had three resignations from the board this morning,” the minister said.
The individuals who resigned were serving in unpaid, voluntary roles on the board.
In an interview with RTÉ’s News at One, Ms Carroll MacNeill expressed concerns about CHI’s leadership and future plans, reports RTE.
“We’ve had three resignations from the board this morning. These would be individuals who have worked on the board, worked in [a] volunteer capacity on the board since 2018,” she said, reports RTE.
Those who resigned include Dr Gavin Lavery, Brigid McManus, and Catherine Guy.
Mary Cryan had resigned the week prior.
“I have said that very clearly we need to have a functional governance structure to enable us to get to the opening of the Children’s Hospital and to deal with the very many issues in children’s health,” Ms Carroll MacNeill said, reports RTE.
She explained that she had not asked anyone to resign, noting she does not have the legal authority to do so.
“I have a different relationship with the CHI board in statute than any other minister really has with most other boards. It is an unusual structure and I don’t have the authority to ask people to step down in the way that you normally might expect,” she said, reports RTE.
“I want to thank those people for the service that they have given to the public because we recognise that these are voluntary positions, and we are asking people to step out of their other lives to perform a public service in this measure,” she added, reports RTE.
The minister stated that the process of filling the now-vacant board positions will begin in the coming days.
The Taoiseach described reform at CHI as “absolutely critical”, underlining the need for a collaborative, multidisciplinary medical approach.
Speaking in the Dáil, Micheál Martin announced that an external, independent clinical audit will be undertaken to reassure families and patients, reports RTE.
He emphasized that “accountability” is essential, noting that recent developments were “deeply deeply worrying”.
The Taoiseach said conditions at CHI were clearly “not optimal for safety”, reports RTE.
He remarked there was a “clear need to find out how and why so many children got surgery when they didn’t need it”.
Martin was responding to Labour Party leader Ivana Bacik, who accused CHI of abandoning its focus on child patients in favour of what she called a “chaotic string of failures,” adding that “breaches of trust are clearly evident too”, r r
The Dublin Bay South TD questioned the leadership of CHI, asking: “What is going on? Who is in charge?”
She stated that CHI’s cultural and clinical issues were “systemic and endemic”.
Ms Bacik added that accountability alone is not enough, and that the Government must now take “decisive action”, reports RTE.
She proposed placing CHI under the “direct control and oversight” of the HSE, arguing that it’s unacceptable for the HSE to be expected to answer for an organisation it doesn’t oversee.
Separately, Ms Carroll MacNeill stated that “toxic behaviours” had emerged within CHI, with some individuals clashing with board members and the executive.
She told RTÉ News at One: “Over time, there have been pockets of very toxic behaviour. There have been pockets of individuals who have been very defiant and who have not gone along with what the board and the executive and the broader thrust of public policy has been. I think that has made it very difficult for CHI to get to the point that we want to get to,” reports RTE.
Ms Carroll MacNeill said such conduct is unacceptable.
“It is now 2025 and we are moving towards a new Children’s Hospital. These behaviours where they exist, these toxic behaviours or decisions that are not made in line with international best practice, they were never tolerable,” reports RTE.
“We are in a totally different era of health now as we move towards a world class hospital,” she said, reports RTE.
Full action plan sought over public patient referral report
The minister has also asked CHI for a comprehensive action plan in response to an internal report concerning a consultant accused of referring public patients to their private clinic.
The Sunday Times reported details of the previously unpublished report over the weekend, reports RTE.
The procedures in question were funded by the National Treatment Purchase Fund.
The minister has now received the 2021 report and CHI is currently seeking legal advice on what parts of it can be disclosed, reports RTE.
Ms Carroll MacNeill pointed out that the Department of Health had not been informed of the report and said it should also have been shared with the National Patient Safety Office.
She said: “I believe it should have been the attention of the national Patient Safety Office, even more importantly than the minister, because these issues are very, very serious. There was no process in place to bring this to my attention and it should be at my attention,” reports RTE.
The minister also said she only learned that the consultant involved was now retired upon reading the report.
In a separate matter, the minister has not yet been given the Nayagam report, which relates to spinal surgeries by a Surgeon A at Temple Street.
At the same time, Cabinet was set to receive a summary of the terms of reference for an expert panel to review hip dysplasia surgeries on children, r r
This comes after a recent review found that nearly 80% of such surgeries at the National Orthopaedic Hospital Cappagh and 60% at CHI Temple Street were unnecessary.
The audit spanned surgeries carried out between 2021 and 2023, but now parents of children who underwent such operations dating back to 2010 are also being offered follow-up assessments, reports RTE.
A helpline has been active since last week and has already received hundreds of calls from concerned parents.
The expert panel will be led by an international authority and will include professionals from various disciplines such as radiology, orthopaedics, and paediatrics.
Parental consent will be required for the panel to examine whether a child’s surgery was justified, reports RTE.
Ms Carroll MacNeill has contacted the Royal College of Surgeons to request its support in this initiative.
The final terms of reference for the panel will be completed at a later date, reports RTE.
Tell us your thoughts in the Facebook post and share this with your friends.
