HSE’s head of digital innovation resigns citing ‘frustrations’

The Health Service Executive’s head of digital transformation, Prof Martin Curley, has resigned, comparing the job to scaling Mount Everest.

Prof Curley, who has worked for the HSE since 2018, publicly announced his resignation on LinkedIn on Sunday.

The HSE said it had received a resignation letter from Prof Curley and that as it does not discuss employee matters it had nothing further to add.

In his social media post, he said he has “called off this particular ascent on Everest”.

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“Bad weather prognosis and supply chain and funding blockages. We could still succeed but there would be too many casualties, including me. Therefore, as part of a well thought out, broader and evolving plan, I resigned yesterday [Saturday] with immediate effect,” he said.

Speaking following his resignation, Prof Curley said the HSE was not fit for purpose, and that there was significant resistance to change.

“The level of resistance that I ... have seen is quite extreme. Over the years, many clinical innovators have had a lot of resistance to change,” he told RTÉ Radio 1’s Drivetime.

“Clinicians are actually pushing for this but the resistance is coming from administrators that do not have clinical backgrounds.”

Prof Curley said he was “absolutely horrified” by the recent overcrowding in Irish hospitals, adding that technologies are available to assist in this regard.

Asked if the HSE was fit for purpose, he said: “To be very honest, no it’s not. But the problem is bigger than the HSE. There are many amazing people in the HSE, but there are many people, like me, who are deeply frustrated.”

He said there were “many times” when he wanted to walk out, but he felt he had responsibilities and thought he could “fix the system”.

There have been a number of high-profile resignations in the HSE in recent months. Anne O’Connor, who was chief operations officer, left to join VHI healthcare.

Paul Reid, director general of the HSE, also stepped down from his role. In his resignation letter, he cited frustrations with feeling “constrained” in the HSE’s ability to deliver change.