Gardai confirm no action to be taken on controversial Children's Health Ireland waiting list report

"The unpublished internal report which came to light in early summer and was first revealed in the Sunday Times revealed that taxpayer-funded top-up money from the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) was inappropriately used by a consultant who carried out clinics. In June the HSE told the Irish Independent that HSE officials confirmed they were to meet with gardaí after referring the internal Children's Health Ireland (CHI) report highlighting potential abuse of waiting list funds for possible criminal investigation."

"The unpublished 2021 report found proper procedures for holding the weekend clinics with the top-up funding were not followed by one consultant, who earned over €34,000 in additional fees. Some children who were on long waiting lists and could have been shared among the care of other consultants were left at risk of infertility and cancer later in life."

"The money for holding weekend clinics was provided by State-funded NTPF which receives public funding to distribute among hospitals to treat additional children from waiting lists in-house or through paid-for care in private hospitals. At the time a HSE spokesperson also revealed that matters raised in the report will be referred to the Medical Council, and "we will discuss with CHI how this will be done"."

An unpublished 2021 internal report found taxpayer-funded top-up money from the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) was inappropriately used by a consultant who ran weekend clinics. The report concluded that proper procedures for allocating and holding the clinics were not followed and that one consultant earned over €34,000 in additional fees. Some children on long waiting lists who could have been redistributed among other consultants were left at risk of infertility and cancer later in life. The NTPF paid CHI €1.8m in 2021 for insourcing; the hospital decides how that money is shared. The internal report highlighted toxic consultant relationships and instances of bullying. The HSE referred the findings to the Medical Council and discussed meeting with gardaí, while a Garda spokesperson said no action would be undertaken and the NTPF temporarily paused insourcing payments to the group.

Read at Irish Independent