The chairperson of the HSE West’s regional health forum has described as “astounding” the fact that the local health authority spent almost €2 million on legal fees last year.
City councillor Padraig Conneely says he will be seeking a breakdown from the director of the regional health office in Galway of the €1,945,807 paid out.
A report in the Irish Medical Times revealed that the legal fees paid by the HSE in this area in 2008 rose by 30 per cent on the previous year. It paid out €1,493,750 in legal fees in 2007 but €452,000 more last year. The increase was 10 per cent greater than the average rise across the entire HSE, according to the report.
Most of the money was spent in community care which amounted to €339,377 in 2007. “Expenditure on legal fees relating to the region’s acute hospital programme increased slightly from €361,675 in 2007 to €396,461 last year while the spend in central service (including personnel and finance ) declined from €683,206 to €409,468.
“Mental health legal fees were also down from €101,700 to €94,755, while expenditure relating to elderly care was slashed from €7,792 to just €182.”
Cllr Conneely says he is anxious to find out why the legal fees increased by 30 per cent in one year.
“Public patients at the coalface are suffering the effects of major health cutbacks yet there seems to be no limit on legal fees which have massively increased at this time. This is an area of major concern to me. An amount of almost €2 million in legal fees is astounding when beds are being closed in hospitals, A&E has not improved - there are still massive queues - and patients have to lie on trolleys.
“Is the HSE West not questioning the legal fees charged? I’ll be calling on it to negotiate a reduction in fees from its legal advisors. They should feel some of the pain being suffered by the public patient.”
The report revealed that Dermot G O’Donovan and Co Solicitors was paid the most in legal fees from the HSE West (€409,468 ), with four other firms receiving more than €100,000 last year - Michael Tuite (€164,348 ), Leahy and Partners (€159,180 ), Michael D. Murray and Co (€115,806 ), and Bridgette Meehan (€105,875
