Analysis: Investigations to follow hospital procurement claims

While a number of investigations into allegations of procurement irregularities in hospitals were under way before the Prime Time report by the RTÉ Investigations Unit, the programme will lead to further inquiries being established.

With billions having been cut from the health budget in recent years and thousands fewer staff now on the payroll, there is little tolerance for money not being spent in the most cost-effective way.

Minister for Health Leo Varadkar said it was very disappointing that anybody working in the health service, whether in a public, private or voluntary hospital, should behave in a way that he described as unethical and driven by greed.

Concerns about procurement practices in some hospitals were first raised with Varadkar last September, when Labour Party TD Emmet Stagg sent him a representation enclosing a letter from a whistleblower.

Identified

It is understood five hospitals were identified in this letter. Two of them - Mullingar and St Columcille’s in Loughlinstown - are operated directly by the HSE. They also included St Vincent’s Private Hospital, a publicly funded voluntary hospital in Dublin and another private hospital.

Allegations set out in the programme regarding the Beacon private hospital in Dublin and the publicly funded St Vincent’s University Hospital are understood not to have been included in the original letter sent to the Minister.

After concerns raised with Varadkar, last September, the HSE’s internal audit unit carried out an investigation in the hospitals it operates, Mullingar and St Columcille’s. It is understood these audits did not uncover anything untoward.

Allegations

Gardaí were also alerted to the allegations and an investigation is ongoing.

Both St Vincent’s and the Beacon have said that they are carrying out internal inquiries.

The Dáil Public Accounts Committee, the watchdog on public spending, may also examine the issue.

Last night, the St Vincent’s Healthcare Group, which operates both St Vincent’s University Hospital and St Vincent’s Private Hospital, said while allegations about the private hospital had been made last September in the letter sent to Varadkar, its management had not been informed at the time.

“We now understand however that such allegations, concerning a total of seven hospitals and made to the department at that time, were passed to the HSE by the department for investigation, and that the HSE discussed the issue with the Garda Fraud Bureau.

"However, neither the Department of Health, nor the HSE, nor the Garda Fraud Bureau sought to engage with SVPH, or the wider group, at any stage about this."