Why would you go into medicine? To care.

As you climb up the management ladder, this commitment to care should stay with you. This is not rocket science. We only have to think of any consultant you’ve been to. They care and can still hold senior management roles.

Now, imagine if you were the ‘suit’ that runs a hospital. You’re probably a qualified accountant or you might have been an owner of a business. Wherever you came from, you understand that you are running a hospital.

A hospital with sick, vulnerable people.

A hospital that understands the phrase ‘highest standard of clinical care’.

It’s so basic, you would think you wouldn’t need to think a hospital would need to be told this.

Wrong.

Fasten your safety belts and read the following report from the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA):

Contrary to the findings and recommendations of the Authority in 2009 and 2011 in investigation reports into acute general hospital services similar to Portlaoise Hospital, the Investigation Team found that Portlaoise Hospital continues to provide:

• undifferentiated (all manner of conditions) emergency services 24 hours a day 7 days per week (24-seven), and
• undifferentiated surgical services where there is a low number of complex surgical cases.

In addition, the Investigation Team found that Portlaoise Hospital had other major deficiencies in corporate and clinical governance arrangements including not having:

• effective corporate accountability arrangements and performance management processes
• effective clinical governance arrangements in the Emergency Department
• effective risk management structures to include dealing with adverse patient events and or complaints
• effective clinical audit arrangements
• comprehensive systems of workforce planning

Now, this is not a description of some third world hospital. This was Midland Regional Hospital, Portlaoise. It's from a report by HIQA.

The reasons why there was a report in the first place was there was a series of deaths during births of infants. The report gives heartbreaking details of dead babies literally being stuffed into tin cans and presented to grieving parents.

Warnings seemed to have been ignored by the HSE. Patients were bottom of the list.

Another day. Another report.

Will there be sanctions? Will heads roll? A new beginning? Yesterday, I wrote about the civil services and some of its interesting work methods. Take a read and you’ll realise what the chances of any real consequences will be...