Can the HSE be trusted to dispense the vaccine effectively and without corruption?

steddyeddy

I used to work in the HSE as a biochemist. During my time there I observed the administration engage in wasteful spending (paying far more than necessary for consumables), a lack of efficiency with numerous "sick days" or leaving early and a massive amount of nepotism. For example in 2010 there was a "scandal" in which relatives of HSE workers hired their children for well paid, unadvertised jobs.

AN inquiry into alleged nepotism in the Health Service Executive (HSE), which saw the relatives of several senior executives hired for well-paid summer work, has forced an overhaul of recruitment systems, the Irish Independent has learned.

There was fury during the summer after it emerged that the children and spouses of senior HSE staff were taken on, mostly in Cork and Limerick, to help speed up the payment of the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance, which is provided by the HSE.

The review was set up to probe the hiring of the summer staff for posts worth around €23,000-€29,000 a year to work as community welfare officers and clerical officers in the south and mid-west regions.

At least seven of the jobs - four in Co Cork and three in Co Limerick -- were filled by spouses and children of existing HSE staff.

None of the 13 temporary jobs as grade three clerical officers in the HSE South region were advertised, and the posts in Limerick were only advertised to existing staff.

A review was commissioned and the same people were rehired for other positions the following year...

The Irish Examiner has learnt that HSE staff in the mid-west region have expressed concern at how people who were taken on as temporary community welfare officers (CWOs) last year outside normal recruitment procedures were given new positions as clerical officers last month.

“There is incredible bad feeling among staff at the moment. Morale in the HSE Mid-West region has hit rock bottom over this,” said one employee who wished to remain anonymous.

I myself witnessed the hiring of an incompetent nephew of a senior HSE member was hired for the hospital lab. There was far more qualified people for his position but when my boss complained to his aunt that he shouldn't have been hired and there was nepotism involved he was told "sure didn't you get a reference from your former boss? I did the same thing in recommending a family member". The lines between professional relationships and familial relationships were one and the same to some HSE workers.

Now this might seem trivial in the best of times but this is a pandemic and it looks like it's happening again.

A nurse has said that she felt sick when she learned that the Covid-19 vaccine was given to family members of staff at a Dublin hospital.

Louise Morgan-Walsh, Clinical nurse manager Nenagh hospital, was responding to the news that a number of leftover doses of the vaccine were given to the family members of staff at the Coombe Hospital earlier this month.

The master of the Coombe maternity hospital in Dublin has apologised after it emerged the hospital gave Covid-19 vaccines to 16 family members of staff.

"We're not the only frontline workers in hospitals that had zero vaccines.

"I felt sick to think that there were 16 vaccinations left over that could have been given to 16 frontline workers. There doesn't seem to be any accountability in this.

Can the HSE be trusted to dispense this vaccine according to need and not favouritism?

biko

Not really. As you pointed out corruption is already happening.

jam_mac_jam

And this is the case that we know about. I wouldn't be terribly suprised if there was more going on.

cgcsb

In true Irish style, nepotism, selfishness, ego and self-importance will be allowed to run rampant. Anyone high up enough who wants to be Mr Big B011ix and get his family done ahead of their turn will do it and there'll be no sanction and you can't expect it to change either, whistleblowers will be sent to the basement to open envelopes.

steddyeddy

jam_mac_jam wrote: »

And this is the case that we know about. I wouldn't be terribly suprised if there was more going on.

I guarantee it is going on.

Kivaro

The HSE is a bureaucratic management-heavy money pit, with unions actually ruling the roost. It needs to be disbanded and recreated with the focus on the "end user" rather than on the service providers.
But at the moment, we have no other choice but to trust them to roll out this much needed vaccine as quickly as possible.

osarusan

Thread on the topic here:

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2058150944

Lurching

What's the alternative?

noodler

Of course they can.

One hospital giving a dozen doses (some of which are health care workers of some description) to family members shouldn't detract from the 100k plus administered to date.

Worth bearing in mind the majority of the remainder will be done in GPs and Pharmacies once astra and moderna are in wide use. Will be comparatively less in the hospital setting.

E mac

Unless all recipients of vaccine are audited immediately to make sure they are the right age/profile at the time of inoculation. More bureaucracy....great...

Turtwig

Dismantling them in the midst of a pandemic would ensure that more of the thing you are actively trying to prevent would actually occur.

So far there hasn't been any major misattribution of resources.

_Brian

Yea overall they will get it done efficiently and effectively.

There will always be niggly silly stuff that happens, but overall it’s staffed by people doing their best for best public interest.

What happened with the 16 vaccines was the correct idea, executed badly. We shouldn’t be wasting these but maybe they could have found better people.

I’d read they actually had over 100 surplus vaccines amd only did this after exhaustively looking for suitable candidates.

Either way, trust then or not it’s underway and last I saw we were leading the 7 day figure for % of population vaccinated. Other than the maternity hospitals supply of vaccines is the issue not suitable people to get them

suicide_circus

The HSE has been a sh1t show from day one. But this particular case, while obviously unacceptable from a governance/corruption stand point, meh...find it hard to get worked up over it...if it was a straight choice between binning the vaccine and sticking it in a family member's arm then i can live with it