Four board members of Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) have resigned over the past week following months of controversy at the operator of paediatric healthcare in the state.
CHI was established in 2019 to govern and operate paediatric services in Ireland and currently operates Temple Street, Crumlin and Tallaght hospitals. It will also operate the new National Children’s Hospital upon completion.
However, there have been a number of controversies in the hospital, including the implantation of unapproved springs into children with scoliosis and the unnecessary carrying out of hip surgeries on children.
On Tuesday, Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill said three members of the board resigned from their posts that morning.
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Four Children’s Health Ireland board members resign following months of controversy
They are Dr Gavin Lavery, Brigid McManus and Catherine Guy. A fourth member of the board, Mary Cryan, resigned last week.
“These would be individuals who have worked on the board, worked in volunteer capacity on the board since 2018 and who have provided a very strong service,” said the Minister.
Ms Cryan is a former HR director with the Brown Thomas Group and former employer member of the Labour Court.
Dr Lavery is a former ICU physician, president of the Intensive Care society of Ireland and clinical director of HSC Safety Forum (NI).
Ms Guy is chief executive of NiftiBusiness and a former managing partner of ByrneWallace Law Firm in Dublin, while Ms McManus is a former secretary-general at the Department of Education and Skills.
Ms MacNeill told RTÉ News at One: “This is something that I’ve referenced a number of times in the Dáil and I’ve said that very clearly: we need to have a functional governance structure to enable us to get to the opening of the children’s hospital and to deal with the very many issues in children’s health.“
“I have a different relationship with the CHI board in statute than any other minister has with most other boards. It is an unusual structure and I don’t have the authority to ask people to step down in the way you normally might expect.
“I do recognise that there have been resignations this morning and I want to thank those people for the service that they have given to the public because we recognise that these are voluntary positions. And we’re asking people to step out of their other lives to perform a public service.“
The four departures follow the resignation of the board’s chairman, Jim Browne, in April. Mr Browne stepped down after a report by the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) found the implantation of springs into three children with scoliosis was “wrong”. The report added that “children were not protected from the risk of harm” by the systems in CHI.
Speaking in the Dáil, Labour Party leader Ivana Bacik said CHI “should now come under the direct control and oversight of the HSE”.
Ms Bacik said: “Until that happens it’s very hard to see accountability because what we have now is the ridiculous situation where the HSE is answering questions about scandals for which it does not have direct responsibility.”
