CUH chief exec and HSE South West head to appear before PAC over staffing

The chief executive of Cork University Hospital (CUH) and the HSE South West director have been summoned to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) for its December 3 meeting amid ongoing patient‑safety concerns.

In August, CUH chief executive Jennifer Kearney wrote to senior HSE officials warning of a shortfall of about 1,000 staff caused by recruitment restrictions and delays in approving posts, and asked that 172 posts be prioritised before the winter season.

Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has repeatedly rejected the staffing worries, stating CUH has hired twice as many staff as budgeted. After the letter was made public, HSE South West chief Andy Phillips warned of possible “performance management” action and claimed the offices of Taoiseach Micheál Martin and the minister had instructed him to speak to Ms Kearney – a claim both denied, and for which Mr Phillips later apologised.

Following the incident, PAC member Fianna Fáil TD Séamus McGrath proposed that Ms Kearney and Mr Phillips be asked to appear, noting the public debate over CUH resources and the significant public funding involved.

CUH clinical director Conor Deasy warned that the closure of up to 22 step‑down beds at St Finbarr’s Hospital and the Riverstick Transitional Care Facility, together with the failure to open 20 neuro‑rehabilitation beds in Blarney, was “dangerous” and contributing to emergency department overcrowding.

Social Democrat TD Liam Quaide described the bed closures as “reckless incompetence” and called on the minister to explain the decisions to patients on trolleys. HSE South West later said 22 beds remained available across community, rehabilitation, long‑term care and acute facilities in Cork.

Source: Irish Examiner. Photo: Sandy Torchon / Pexels.