Former chief executive of the Galway Hospice Mary Derrig has said she was delighted at the outcome of the investigation into bullying claims at the hospice.
Ms Derrig, one of three complainants who had their case upheld by the Health Service Executive (West), also called for a "revisiting" of last year's independent review into hospice medication procedures. This should take place, Ms Derrig said yesterday, in the light of the investigation's recent findings.
The investigation by Dr Seán Conroy, which was handed to all parties a week ago, ruled that hospice clinical director and palliative care consultant Dr Dympna Waldron had "misconducted herself in office by engaging in bullying behaviour".
The independent medical review into procedures at Galway Hospice, published last year, was prompted by complaints made by Dr Waldron.
It upheld her concerns in relation to five of 17 cases which she recorded during an 18-month period to May 2003. In four cases, emergency intervention was required to save life.
However, the cases involved both medical and nursing staff, and the review highlighted lack of communication as a key contributory factor.
It also noted that the nursing staff had raised concerns about procedures as far back as 2000, and it was critical of medical management for failing to provide adequate training in administration of the drug hydromorphone and for a breach of procedure in reporting medication errors. None of the errors occurred during Ms Derrig's tenure as chief executive, but she said that the review, which was "excellent" in terms of its brief, had been "used to undermine the organisation.
"Any other medical establishment which becomes subject to such scrutiny would probably yield as many, if not more, medical errors," she said, and statistics backed this up.
"That said, Galway Hospice is much stronger as a result of it, as all of the recommendations have been implemented," she added.
Ms Derrig said she could not comment on her bullying complaints, but said the interpersonal situation with the clinical director had forced her to resign in mid-2002 after 14 years employment at the hospice, including four years as chief executive.
Her formal complaint about bullying, involving 11 specific instances, had been submitted to the hospice in February 2002 and forwarded to HSE West (formerly the Western Health Board).
Two separate bullying complaints lodged by Ms Ann Gardiner, clinical nurse specialist at Portiuncula Hospital, Ballinasloe, Co Galway, in 2002, and by Ms Nicola Purcell, clinical nurse manager at Galway Hospice, in 2003, were also investigated by Dr Conroy.
He upheld the complaints against Dr Waldron in all three cases, and described the evidence given by witnesses as a "regime of bullying".
Ms Derrig, a mother of two with qualifications in healthcare management, is now working for a multinational company in Galway. She said she is undecided about whether to take further action as a result of Dr Conroy's report.
While she was critical of the delay in its completion, she said the thoroughness of the conclusions and the reference to legal complications experienced by its author had to be taken into account.
The Irish Hospital Consultants' Association, which represents Dr Waldron, said she had been advised by her legal representatives to make no comment at present on the Conroy report.
