Mullen condemns HSE West spend on PR consultants 

Independent University Senator Rónán Mullen has expressed disappointment and frustration at the revelation that the Saolta Hospital Group (including Galway University Hospital and Portiuncula Hospital) spent €169,444.80 hiring the PR consultancy firm Setanta communications.

Commenting on figures he obtained from the Department of Health after raising the matter in the Seanad, Senator Mullen said:

“The use of external PR consultants by a public health authority is bizarre. I have yet to receive a satisfactory response from the HSE as to why a group of hospitals needs a press operation. The money spent on spin doctors would have better spent on real doctors and life-saving equipment for Galway hospitals.”

The Senator raised the lack of vital treatments for newborn infants in Galway’s hospitals:

“Galway currently lacks facilities providing therapeutic hypothermia for infants. This treatment known as ‘baby cooling’ is recognised and used internationally when a baby is born with a lack of oxygen reaching the brain. Baby cooling is a life saving treatment which can reduce the risk of permanent conditions such as cerebral palsy by up to 50%.

He continued: “If a baby is born in Galway or Portiuncula hospitals suffering from oxygen starvation, the vulnerable child must be rushed to Dublin by emergency ambulance. The lack of baby cooling west of the Shannon is one of the issues linked to ongoing investigations of maternity services in Portiuncula.”

“The shocking fact is that for the €170,000 spent on PR consultants, Galway could have been given two neonatologists and four baby cooling stations. At the same time as the HSE is investigating the safety of maternity services in the West, it is spending taxpayers’ money on spin doctors rather than on real doctors and equipment  to help vulnerable newborn children.”

Questions about whether information technology contract correctly awarded

3^rd December, 2014 

 
The Minister for Health should answer “serious questions” about a contract awarded by the HSE West Northwest Group, now known as the ‘Saolta University Health Care Group’, to a British company, Independent University Senator Rónán Mullen told the Seanad today.

Senator Mullen said that Saolta, which includes all the major hospitals in Counties Galway, Roscommon, Mayo, Sligo and Donegal, had awarded a contract for information technology systems for its hospitals to a UK-based company, Northgate Public Services. “The value of this contract has not been disclosed by the HSE but the Irish Times has reported that a senior member of management with Saolta was previously a consultant with the company. It is also clear from the Irish Times report that Northgate was the only company invited to bid for this contract.”

Senator Mullen noted that a serious issue had arisen previously when the West Northwest hospital group had invited only one organisation to tender for the preparation of a report about the provision of maternity services. That organisation had an association with the then chairman of the hospital group who subsequently resigned from his hospital role.

The previous Minister for Health, James Reilly had given an assurance that there “would be no further breaches in relation to procurement matters”. But it was now important for the sake of public confidence that the Minister for Health address the issues around this information technology contract.

“What was the value of this contract for IT services and in the light of that value, did the tendering process comply with correct procedure? Was the Department of Health and the then Minister aware of possible tendering anomalies in the context of Northgate plc when the other issue was raised previously in the Seanad? If so, why was there no advertence to that fact?”

“I am asking for the Minister to come to the House because if there was any commercial connection between any member of senior management of those hospitals and the company that received the contract, it would raise serious issues.”

Senator Mullen noted that the current CEO of Saolta was due to finish his term in December 2014 and to transfer to the management of hospitals in the North-Eastern region in January. There might have to be suspension of this appointment until there was “full clarity” around the issue, Senator Mullen said.

Breakthrough autism treatment ‘not on Government’s radar’ – Mullen says

“Government reply loaded with civil service gobbledygook”

18^th November 2014

Independent University Senator Rónán Mullen has criticised the Government response to his call for the breakthrough autism teaching technique known as the ‘Rapid Prompting Method’ (RPM) to be promoted, funded and targeted at children suffering with autism in Irish schools.

“RPM is a truly breakthrough method for assisting parents and teachers of children with autism. The RPM system gives a child a new way to communicate with others. It is particularly successful for people who have limited or no speech. According to the Department of Education’s own figures approximately one child in every 88 is on the autistic spectrum. With such a high incidence of autism in Ireland, the Department of Education ought to be interested in any promising new education technique for children affected by autism.”

The Minister for Education and Skills, Jan O’Sullivan did not attend the Seanad to answer the Senator Mullen’s motion. Instead the Minister for the Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Heather Humphreys, delivered a prepared script from the Department of Education. Senator Mullen criticised this response: “It was complete civil servants’ speak and I am disappointed because it tells me nothing about whether the Department knows or cares anything about the RPM method. Considering how important this issue is for thousands of Irish families I hoped to receive a reply that was not loaded with civil service gobbledygook. It looks like RPM is not on the Government’s radar.”

Senator Mullen lauded the work of volunteers who are struggling to have the Department of Education recognise the RPM method. In particular he praised the Ó Láimhín family and their supporters in Swinford, County Mayo for pioneering the introduction of the RPM system into Ireland: “Nuala Ó Láimhín is the mother of Seosamh, a 16 year old boy with severe autism. She and her husband, Padraig, have been using the rapid prompting method with their son at home since May 2013. Nuala tells me that life for Seosamh and their family has been transformed since they started using the method. The Ó Láimhín family and other volunteers in County Mayo have worked hard to spread the word of the RPM system. At the moment there is no evidence that the Department of Education is even aware of RPM, let alone willing to meet the volunteers who are working so hard to bring it to the attention of parents around Ireland. This is a disappointing state of affairs”.