Sir, – The report concerning Jennifer Kearney’s letter to the HSE about Cork University Hospital raises a wider question about the relationship between hospital management and clinicians (“Cork University Hospital short more than 1,000 staff, says chief executive,” August 19th).
When Andy Phillips, regional executive officer, HSE South West, first met consultants at CUH, I recall him saying he was there “to support you guys to do your job”. I remember the phrase because it seemed to capture what many of us would hope for from hospital management: that management would enable clinicians to provide the best possible care, rather than simply manage them.
Of course, senior clinicians cannot and should not be above scrutiny. If there are concerns about an individual’s performance or conduct, they should be properly investigated and dealt with through appropriate processes.
But the same principles of fairness and accountability should apply to management. Clinicians should be able to raise concerns, expect their professional views to be heard and have confidence that significant decisions affecting them are made through transparent and appropriate processes.
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This is not about taking sides in the controversy surrounding any individual. It is about maintaining trust in the system.
Those of us working in the health service were told that management was there to support us to do our jobs. That is a reasonable expectation. The question is whether, in practice, our systems of clinical and managerial governance always live up to it. – Yours, etc,
JOHN MACFARLANE,
Consultant in Rehabilitation Medicine,
Mercy and Cork University Hospitals.
