Joint statement from the President and the Board of Tallaght Hospital and the Minister for Health
Dr James Reilly
In a joint statement today from the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr. Michael Jackson (President of
Tallaght Hospital), the Board of Tallaght Hospital and the Minister for Health, Dr James
Reilly, a framework has been announced to implement a series of new initiatives to reform
and modernise the governance structures of the Hospital. The announcement follows an
intensive and positive series of discussions involving the Hospital Board and President, the
Minister for Health, the Department of Health and the HSE.
The discussions took place against the challenging backdrop faced by the Hospital in the
context of a significant budgetary overrun at the Hospital and the commencement of a HIQA
investigation into practices in its Emergency Department.
The Minister would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge publicly the success
achieved by the current management and Board of Tallaght Hospital in bringing the
budgetary overrun under strict control within agreed parameters, agreeing a further cost
saving plan for 2012 and for voluntarily commencing the process of reforming the
governance structure of the Hospital – all of which has been achieved since August 2011.
The unique history of Tallaght Hospital, combining as it does (in the form of a Charter) the
identity of three separate foundations (the Meath Foundation, the Adelaide Hospital Society
and the National Children's Hospital) has resulted in a governance structure which is
ultimately no longer properly suited to the modern complexities of running an academic
teaching hospital of such a scale.
It has been agreed to implement the reform of the governance structure over two phases with
a further reduction in the size of the Hospital Board occurring imminently in the appointment
of an interim board while in the longer term the Charter will be replaced by new legislation.
The Minister has confirmed that the voluntary status of the Hospital will remain and further
that the pluralist core values of the Hospital are assured and will be carried over into the
replacement legislation. The values and principles of openness and inclusiveness in all
aspects of healthcare provision, relating to medicine, nursing and research, shall be
maintained by the President of the hospital as also will be the principles of pluralism,
freedom of conscience and freedom to practise religion in the Hospital.
These changes, with the support of the three foundations, the President and Board of the
Hospital, and the Minister for Health are considered essential for ongoing progress to be
assured in the prudent and effective management of the Hospital in manner that gives the
greatest assurance that the patients get the best possible service from the available resources.
ENDS
For further information, please contact:
Laoise O'Murchu, Communications and Public Relations Manager, Tallaght Hospital (01) 414 5918
