Latest news with #CarrollMacNeill
The Journal
7 days ago
- Health
- The Journal
Redacted version of CHI report could be published this week, Health Minister says
THE MINISTER FOR Health has indicated that a version of an unpublished report detailing concerns at Children's Health Ireland (CHI) may be published this week. The internal investigation, the details of which were first reported by the Sunday Times and subsequently seen by The Journal and other media outlets, came about after concerns were raised about how waiting list initiatives were being carried out at a hospital run by CHI. It detailed how a consultant was paid €35,800 by the hospital after money was received from the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) to help cut long waiting lists. The HSE has referred the report to gardaí and the Irish Medical Council. Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has previously called for a redacted version of the report to be published. Speaking on Newstalk's Anton Savage Show this morning, she said she had not published the report after checking with the Attorney General because she has 'no legal basis' to do so. 'This was an internal human resources-type report going into some very serious cultural issues, and the people who participated in it, nurses, junior doctors and so on, they participated in it on that basis, in a confidential way,' she said. Carroll MacNeill said the report reflects what some staff said in confidence and that some of them would be identifiable In the normal course, you'd never publish something like that, but the issues in this are of such seriousness that in the broader public interest, a version of it must be published. She said that CHI are reflecting on how to publish the report 'responsibly' so that it 'tells the maximum story behind it and the steps of what has been taken next'. Advertisement When asked if she knows when this will be published, she said: 'I suspect it will be this week.' The Fine Gael TD said it is important that the people 'who might have given descriptions about what they were feeling and perhaps some of the pressures they felt' are appropriately protected. On hospital governance, Carroll MacNeill said she had a lot of questions about the different governance structures across the country. 'Ireland is a small country. It's five and a half million people. We spend a very significant amount of our taxpayers money on health, quite appropriately, but we need to make sure that we're getting the best value for that.' She said CHI was formed in an effort to create a single entity that would bring Temple Street and St James's hospitals together, adding that it has 'done that and has brought it to a certain point'. 'There's no question about that, but I do think that there's very much more work to be done to integrate a single pediatric system.' National Children's Hospital The Minister was also asked whether it was appropriate that CHI are permitted to run the new National Children's Hospital (NCH). The earliest date that the hospital will now be open to patients is June 2026. 'I think we'll be reflecting on that sort of policy structure over the next year,' she said, adding that her first concern is that the NCH is opened at the earliest possible date. She said that there are 140 consultants within CHI, and that these issues have been created from 'a very small proportion'. 'I am a parent of a child in CHI, many, many others are and they know that it's a very good service. It's very, very functional. But that doesn't mean we don't need to get deep into these problem areas.' Last month, Carroll MacNeill appointed two HSE board members to the board of CHI after three of its members resigned following the release of an independent review into children's hip surgeries at three CHI hospitals. Related Reads HSE to refer unpublished Children's Health Ireland report to gardaí and Medical Council Health Minister calls for CHI report on consultant misuse of waiting list system to be published Three members of Children's Health Ireland board resign after review into hip surgeries 'I do have another a number of vacancies which I think will need to be filled, and I think we will reflect on that in policy terms over the next number of months,' she said. She said the Government would keep 'a steady focus' on the delivery of services, the implementation of reforms where they need to happen and planning for the NCH. 'But I am watching and managing this very carefully from a medium-term policy perspective,' she added. National Treatment Purchase Fund The matter of the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) was also raised. The NTPF provides funding for patients on waiting lists to get treatment in both public and private settings. It pays for clinics to be set up in public hospitals outside of normal working hours, i.e on weekends, wherein staff already working at the hospital are paid additionally to carry out extra work. This is known as 'insourcing'. The NTPF had suspended funding to CHI hospitals over concerns raised in an internal audit, related to an insourcing clinic at the hospital. On Wednesday, it cut funding to another public hospital temporarily after finding ' potential financial irregularities' in relation to NTPF-funded insourcing work. Carroll MacNeill said that an audit of insourcing that she and HSE chief Bernard Gloster commissioned has been completed and that she expects to see the results 'possibly' in the next two to three weeks. She said the matter needs 'very serious and careful analysis', as does the issue of insourcing more broadly 'because of how it intersects with getting the best productivity within the public system'. 'We cannot have a fully public system and also be creating these other incentives. We cannot cut off these other incentives overnight because of the impact on patient care, but by God, we're going to be weaning ourselves off them.' Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
Agriland
13-06-2025
- Health
- Agriland
Minister: State doesn't ‘regulate' number of GPs in a community
The Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has said that the state does not 'regulate' the number of GPs that can set up in a town or community. The minister was responding to a parliamentary question from Social Democrats TD Liam Quaide this week (June 2025). Deputy Quaide asked the minister her plans to address the shortage of general practitioners serving rural towns. Minister Carroll MacNeill explained that GPs are self-employed practitioners and therefore may establish practices at a place 'of their own choosing'. Under the General Medical Services (GMS) scheme, the HSE contracts GPs to provide medical services without charge to medical card and GP visit card holders. According to the minister, as of June 1, there are 2,558 GPs contracted to provide services under the GMS scheme, a further 629 GPs do not hold a GMS contract but hold at least one other contract with the HSE for the provision of health services. She said: 'The government is aware that there is limited access to GP services in certain areas and that more GPs are needed to improve the availability of GP services. 'A number of measures have been taken in recent years to increase the attractiveness of general practice in Ireland as a career and increase the number of GPs practicing here,' Minister Carroll MacNeill added. Minister for Health According to the minister, the practice support package for rural GP practices was increased by 10% under the 2019 GP Agreement. She also outlined that practices in receipt of rural practice supports attract the maximum allowable rates for practice staff support subsidies and locum contributions for leave taking. The minister said: 'Annual intake to the GP training scheme has been increased by approximately 80% from 2019 to 2024, with 350 new entrant training places made available from 2024. 'As a result, the number of GP graduates has increased in recent years and will continue to increase in the coming years.' 'Furthermore, recruitment of GPs from abroad is ongoing under the International Medical Graduate (IMG) Rural GP Programme. 119 IMG GPs were in practice as of November last and funding has been provided to recruit up to 250 more GPs to Ireland this year,' Minnister Carroll MacNeill added.
The Journal
04-06-2025
- Health
- The Journal
Health Minister apologises to woman after HSE admits to ‘failings' over cancer diagnosis
HEALTH MINISTER JENNIFER Carroll MacNeill has apologised to a woman after 'failings' in relation to two smear tests 'led to' her cancer diagnosis. Leona Macken (38) was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2023. She took legal action in relation to two cervical smear tests, one in 2016 and one in 2020, which medical experts said were incorrectly reported as negative. An apology from the HSE was read out in the High Court yesterday after Macken settled the legal action. The High Court heard that Macken now has incurable metastatic cancer. A letter of apology from the chief executive of the National Screening Service Fiona Murphy, on behalf of the service and the HSE, apologised for the 'failings that have occurred and led to your diagnosis'. An undisclosed settlement was made for damages and the statement expressed 'hope that this settlement will give you and your family some level of comfort, peace of mind and security'. 'Need to look into this myself' Speaking on Newstalk Breakfast, Macken said she felt she had to go down a legal route to get answers. 'I had been asking questions and they weren't met by the answers that I was looking for, so that's why I said I need to look into this myself. 'I didn't really know where to be going and that's when they contacted Cian O'Carroll Solicitors.' Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Carroll MacNeill said there 'should be open disclosure' and she also offered her apology to Macken. While Carroll MacNeill said 'screening programmes will always have some limitations', she added that it 'shouldn't happen' that people need to fight for an audit for their personal records. 'I don't want to provide a justification for why is it happening, it shouldn't happen,' said Carroll MacNeill. She said people in medical negligence cases need to have 'timely, open disclosure'. 'They need a resolution to their case, and they do not need additional stress going through the court process,' said Carroll MacNeill. 'These are very clear cases and it is really important that people are not provided additional stress and additional hurt through a court process when some of the issues are very clear, and that has to change. Advertisement 'There is a very different way that we need to approach medical negligence cases and how they're treated and that is one of the most important things I will be trying to address during the period that I am Minister for Health.' 'Thank God I started asking questions' Meanwhile, Macken said yesterday's apology mean a 'huge amount to her'. 'The acknowledgement of the failures and was a really good conclusion,' said Macken. 'We didn't know whether we were going to get it and there's been a lot of women in my position that didn't get that, so it is something I don't take for granted.' Macken said she had never missed a smear test and said of her diagnosis: 'How did I go from a normal smear in 2020 to cancer in 2023, it just didn't add up my head. 'Thank God I did start asking questions because I don't know if I would have ever found this out.' She added that a cancer diagnosis 'wasn't in my mind at all because I had no history of abnormalities'. Macken added that there has been 'no contact or response from the government' despite her solicitor Cian O'Carroll 'reaching out at a certain points'. She also remarked that 'there's so many things in the system that need to be rectified'. Speaking to RTÉ yesterday, O'Carroll said it is a 'complete falsehood' that there has been an improvement in the way women are told about mistakes in their smear tests. He said: 'The point Macken was making was that, standing outside the High Court in Ireland seven years on from when Vicky Phelan stood in the exact same spot, effectively nothing had changed. 'She was still complaining of similar errors, but ones that have now occurred two years after Vicky. 'Also like Vicky, she was not told of any failures in her screening.' O'Carroll added that it was 'a very big burden' for Macken to pursue the case when 'the time you have left is limited'. Macken however said she is 'determined to try and find something to get me out of this'. 'I'm not giving up, I've too much to live for,' she told Newstalk Breakfast. 'I have two beautiful children, I have an amazing family and a huge support behind me. 'In every other aspect of my life, I've always said I'm so lucky, I just have the most beautiful life, and I don't want to leave it.' Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
RTÉ News
29-05-2025
- Health
- RTÉ News
Two new members appointed to CHI board after resignations
Two new board members have been appointed to the Children's Health Ireland (CHI) board. It follows the resignations of four members in the past week. Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has appointed Dr Yvonne Traynor and Dr Anne Carrigy. Dr Traynor has been a member of the Health Service Executive (HSE) board since June 2019. She was vice president of Regulatory & Scientific Affairs with the Kerry Group. Dr Carrigy has been a member of the HSE board since March 2021. She is a nurse and joined the HSE as Director of the Serious Incident Management Team and later became National Lead, Acute Hospital Services HSE. Minister Carroll MacNeill said the appointments would strengthen governance and oversight at CHI. It comes as Ms Carroll MacNeill announced the resignation of three CHI board members on Tuesday, while another member resigned last week. Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, Ms Carroll MacNeill said she had made it clear that she had "strong questions about the governance of CHI and its direction towards the future". "We've had three resignations from the board. These would be individuals who have worked on the board, worked in [a] volunteer capacity on the board since 2018," she added. The three members are Dr Gavin Lavery, Brigid McManus and Catherine Guy. Mary Cryan also resigned last week. Ms Carroll MacNeill said she had not asked the members to resign, as she does not have the authority to. "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. "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. Taoiseach Micheál Martin said it is "absolutely critical" that there is fundamental reform at the CHI, to ensure there is a multi-disciplinary approach across all areas of medicine which it is responsible for. Speaking in the Dáil, the Taoiseach said there will be an external and independent clinical audit to give assurances to both family and patients. He said there had to be "accountability", given that recent revelations were "deeply deeply worrying".
The Irish Sun
27-05-2025
- Health
- The Irish Sun
Latest bombshell as 3 CHI board members quit amid ‘horrendous scandal' over ‘unnecessary' hip surgeries in 2 hospitals
THREE board members of Children's Health Ireland (CHI) have resigned with immediate effect, the Minister for Health has said. Jennifer Carroll Advertisement It comes after several controversies involving CHI, including a report published on Friday that found many children underwent ' The clinical audit of dysplasia of the hips surgeries in Minister Carroll MacNeill revealed that three members - Dr Gavin Lavery, Brigid McManus and Catherine Guy - had resigned on Tuesday morning. Explaining the move, she said: 'These would be individuals who have worked on the board, worked in volunteer capacity on the board since 2018 and who have provided, you know, a very strong service in bringing the hospitals from where they were, as I said, that historical model run by the religious further. Advertisement READ MORE IN IRISH NEWS 'And they have dealt with very challenging circumstances but I think, it's also important to recognise that they have stepped down this morning, so as I look at the board.' A fourth member of the board, Mary Cryan, resigned last week. Commenting on the current situation, Minister Carroll MacNeill added: 'I have made it clear that I have strong questions about the governance of CHI and its direction towards the future. 'This is something that I've referenced a number of times in the Advertisement Most read in The Irish Sun Exclusive Exclusive '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. 'I do recognise that there have been resignations this morning and I want to thank those people for the service that they have given to the public because we recognise that these are voluntary positions. Advertisement 'And we're asking people to step out of their other lives to perform a public service in this measure." The review discovered that in the period 2021 to 2023 almost 80 per cent of children operated on at the NOHC, and 60 per cent of those at Temple Street, did not meet the threshold for surgery. The 2,259 children who underwent hip surgeries in the three hospitals (NOHC, CHI Temple Street and CHI Crumlin) from as far back as 2010 will now be subject to clinical reviews. Families call for action to tackle children's spinal surgery waiting list scandal Opposition TDs have called for a public inquiry and for CHI to be fully subsumed into the HSE. Advertisement The CHI hospital group is a distinct entity from the HSE, although it is funded by the HSE and accountable to it. People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy said the hip dysplasia issue was a 'horrendous scandal' and there was a 'very fundamental problem of governance' in CHI. 'I think CHI is not fit for purpose as currently set up. I think that's kind of part of what a public inquiry needs to look at, but it needs to be quick.' Our Kids Can't Wait Campaign WAITING lists in Ireland have long been a national disgrace. More than 106,000 children are on hospital waiting lists for all treatments. However, a new source of shame has emerged as 327 children wait for life changing spinal surgeries. Their conditions are getting worse while they languish on waiting lists. Such are the delays, many child patients will be outside the therapeutic window when their treatments are approved. Earlier this month, the Seanad heard how at least one child has become permanently paralysed since the issue was raised publicly before Christmas. Their plight has been spearheaded by campaigning Senator Tom Clonan, who himself has a child with a disability. Former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has even admitted that the health service is failing these kids. Children are being allowed to deteriorate due to mismanagement, which has allowed the waiting lists to grow. The Irish Sun's Kids Can't Wait campaign aims to shine a light on how the State is failing sick children and give their families a voice. It will also force the Government to do something to clear the backlog of operations and give these children a chance of living a normal life. 1 Jennifer Carroll MacNeill said those who stepped down dealt with 'very challenging circumstances' Credit: PA Advertisement
