An investigator examining a whistleblower’s concerns about Covid-19 protections at a HSE-run nursing home in Dublin has been asked to examine whether emails were removed from an IT system after their concerns were raised.
Minutes of a HSE meeting covering the Dublin area on May 14th show that during a discussion about an investigation into claims made the previous week by a staff member at St Mary’s Hospital nursing home in Phoenix Park, health officials were told to “take emails off the system”.
A staff member at the care facility, one of the worst-hit nursing homes in the country with 24 confirmed coronavirus-related deaths at the time, raised concerns over access to personal protective equipment (PPE) early in the pandemic in a protected disclosure on May 6th.
Hospital Report
The May 14th meeting was attended by HSE staff from community health organisation (CHO) covering the Dublin city area and staff from St Mary’s. According to the minutes, everyone in attendance was responsible for the direction and that it was to be carried out immediately.
The minutes also state that the concerns were raised “around the initial on set [sic] of Covid-19 and PPE” and that officials were to “reinsure [sic] staff on management rounds”.
One member in attendance “advised to take any emails off the system”, the minutes state.
In response to queries from The Irish Times, a HSE spokeswoman said the action arising from the meeting of the Covid-19 team at the May 14th meeting was “to ensure all staff were aware of their obligations to comply with the HSE’s procedure for protected disclosure”.
“I can confirm no request was made to remove emails and no emails were deleted. St Mary’s Hospital has fully co-operated with the investigation team and provided all information requested,” said the spokeswoman.
She added: “We accept that the wording as highlighted does not reflect this clearly and we apologise for any confusion caused.”
Freedom of Information request
The minutes were included in records released by the HSE to the Fine Gael TD Fergus O'Dowd under a Freedom of Information Act request.
Mr O'Dowd has asked investigator Gerry Rooney, who has been assigned to examine the whistleblower's concerns, to seek a full explanation of what transpired at St Mary's following the May 14th meeting and to interview all appropriate staff.
“It is essential to fully address the issue of the possible removal of significant emails from the systems in St Mary’s,” the Fine Gael TD told Mr Rooney in an email.
“I would ask you therefore to take whatever steps are necessary to secure and protect any possible other written records and, in particular, IT records on computer systems and laptops, phones, etc and have them examined by independent experts in this field.”
Mr Rooney, managing director of Co Dublin-based mediation and dispute resolution company Acrux Consulting, told Mr O'Dowd the investigation would consider the matter.
Two days before the May 14th meeting, the HSE appointed Mr Rooney as an independent investigator to examine the whistleblower’s claims after their protected disclosure was made to the HSE, the Department of Health and health service regulator, the Health Information and Quality Authority, under 2014 whistleblower legislation.
Mr O’Dowd told The Irish Times the issue around the purported direction at the May 14th meeting must be “fully and properly examined” to check whether emails may or may not have been removed and if the emails tie in with the protected disclosure.
Dublin solicitor Caoimhe Haughey, who represents the whistleblower, described the minutes of the meeting as "highly suspicious".
It was important for the integrity of the disclosure that the emails issue be examined because there had to be open disclosure for the benefit of the disclosure and the disclosee, she said.
“The emails may not have been deleted but what are these emails they are referring to and how do they feed into the investigation of St Mary’s?” she asked.
