The special delivery unit established by Minister for Health James Reilly to tackle waiting lists and the number of patients on trolleys in emergency departments is costing about €2 million a year to run, it has emerged.
The estimates of the running costs of the unit were set out by the director general designate of the Health Service Executive (HSE), Tony O'Brien, in correspondence dealing with the planned transfer of the unit from the Department of Health to the health authority.
While there has been some controversy in the past regarding contracts awarded to some senior personnel working in the special delivery unit, Mr O’Brien’s correspondence to the secretary general of the Department of Health, Ambrose McLoughlin, in March is believed to represent the first occasion that the overall operating costs of the unit have been divulged.
Mr O’Brien said that based on information provided to the HSE, “we would estimate that the annual running cost of the special delivery unit including seconded staff, contracted staff/advisers, general expenses, service contracts and other miscellaneous expenses would be in the order of €2 million per annum”.
“Within this total, there is a significant amount that relates to a number of special delivery unit-related contracts that were entered into by the Department of Health. I would recommend that, for legal and accountability reasons, commitments under these contracts continue to be met by the department. The relevant cost amount should be held back from the total funding to be transferred to the HSE.”
Among those taken on by the Department of Health as part of Dr Reilly's drive to cut waiting lists and the numbers on trolleys were consultants Dr Martin Connor and Lis Nixon.
Dr Connor's company, Value Based Solutions, was paid €250,000 for a six-month contract between June and November 2011. It was then engaged on a subsequent three-year contract worth €400,000.
Stipulations
Dr Reilly told the Dáil last September that "neither contract stipulates a set weekly number of hours but rather sets out the services that should be provided". Ms Nixon is employed on a full-time, three-year contract worth €164,000 a year.
Dr Reilly has argued that significant progress has been made in reducing waiting times and numbers on trolleys since the special delivery unit was established. The Government said that at the end of 2012 there were more than 20,000 fewer people on trolleys than at the end of 201 1.
