SERIOUS DIVISIONS have arisen between the chief executive officer of the Health Service Executive, Prof Brendan Drumm, and the board of the HSE over the filling of a senior post in the organisation, it has emerged.
The Irish Times understands that interviews took place recently for the new post of national director of operations at the HSE and while the interview panel, of which Prof Drumm was a member, made a recommendation on who should be appointed, HSE board members are anxious that they should have the final say in who gets the job.
A special meeting of the HSE board was convened on Wednesday night last to consider the impasse but it is understood the situation is still deadlocked.
Informed sources said the HSE board had devolved responsibility for making this and other appointments to Prof Drumm but that it could ultimately revoke this responsibility if it was unhappy with the candidate recommended to it.
However if the HSE board revoked the responsibility from Prof Drumm in this instance, to effectively overturn the recommendation made by the interview panel and Prof Drumm, well placed sources said Prof Drumm may consider resigning.
There were five people on the interview panel including Seán McGrath, who is head of HR at the HSE; Maureen Lynott, who is an adviser to Prof Drumm; Frank Daly, former chairman of the Revenue Commissioners; Mark Moran, the chairman of EBS; and Prof Drumm.
Another meeting of the HSE board is scheduled to take place next Thursday to consider the HSE’s worsening financial position but the tensions over who should be appointed national director of operations will also be on the agenda.
The HSE refused to comment in detail on the debacle last night. In a short statement its director of communications Paul Connors said: “The process in relation to the assessment, selection and recruitment of the national director of quality and clinical care, national director of planning and performance and the national director of operations is being independently carried out by the public appointments service. The process is ongoing and it would be inappropriate to make any comment on the filling of these posts until it is fully concluded.”
The new jobs have been created as a result of a decision to overhaul current HSE structures in line with recommendations made by McKinsey consultants on foot of a review of the way the HSE is organised.
It was decided that the current structures under which there are national directors for hospitals, population health and primary, community and continuing care should all be merged into one under one national director of operations.
McKinsey also recommended that more powers be devolved to the regions and that a number of health board-like regions with local regional managers be re-created. At first it was thought that up to nine regions would be put in place but the latest thinking is that six new HSE regions will be created when the new structures are fully in place.