Many workers are failing to reimburse the HSE for personal calls, while others who have left the executive are still getting their bills paid, writes CARL O'BRIEN
SIGNIFICANT NUMBERS of Health Service Executive staff have been using company phones for personal use and not reimbursing the HSE, according to internal audits.
In addition, staff who retired or resigned from the executive were still using company mobile phones paid for by the health authority.
Auditors have also urged the HSE to review the policy of paying landline rental fees for staff who have been assigned mobile phones by the health authority.
The findings are contained in an internal audit of mobile phone use and other telecommunications last year in the HSE South area.
In total, the report found around 2,470 mobile phones or communications devices had been given to staff in the area for business or professional use.
Auditors commented that holders of HSE mobile phones were not generally permitted to make personal calls.
If they did, they were expected to identify personal calls in their monthly phone bills and reimburse the executive.
While many staff did pay for personal calls, the report stated that in a significant number of cases there was no proper vetting of mobile phone bills by management.
The report states: “A significant number of bills showed no indication of accountability for personal calls where the level of call charges suggested reimbursement may have been due to the HSE South.”
It added: “These findings reveal there are serious control failures with regard to certification of mobile phone bills and accountability for mobile phone use by both line management and staff who are assigned mobile phone use.”
When auditors completed a detailed analysis of eight individual monthly bills of more than €100, they found that three people had not made any personal contribution to their bills.
In another bill – which was only reimbursed on foot of audit queries – a staff member had made payments for personal calls totalling €291 in one month.
“It is understood that in future her mobile phone bills will be subjected to close examination,” the audit report noted.
“While a significant percentage of staff do make reimbursement for personal calls, a large proportion would appear slow to do so.”
The HSE, in its response, said that a review of mobile use was ongoing and that management were being reminded of their obligation to ensure staff reimbursed the executive for personal calls.
In addition, the report found the HSE was paying landline rental worth about €20 a month to at least 30 staff who also had free mobile phones or devices supplied by the executive.
Some people who had left the HSE in the six months prior to the audit still had mobile phones which were being paid for by the health authority.
When auditors examined the payroll and mobile phone bills, it found that phone payment for “a number of staff who had left the HSE South in the period October-to-March continued to be issued in respect of such staff.”
The audit found there was an “absence of adequate procedures governing the return to the HSE of mobile phones upon retirements, resignation or long-term absences such as career breaks, maternity leave, etc.”