{"id":679744,"date":"2026-11-09T18:46:52","date_gmt":"2026-11-09T18:46:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/679744\/"},"modified":"2026-11-09T18:46:52","modified_gmt":"2026-11-09T18:46:52","slug":"hse-drafts-senior-manager-into-cuh-to-start-focused-programme-of-improvement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/679744\/","title":{"rendered":"HSE drafts senior manager into CUH to start &#8216;focused programme of improvement&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A new HSE manager has begun a \u201cfocussed programme of improvement\u201d at <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.irishexaminer.com\/maintopics\/cuh_topic-5071637.html\">Cork University Hospital<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Priscilla Lynch, the HSE\u2019s integrated healthcare area (IHA) manager for Cork South and West previously oversaw CUH as part of her role.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.irishexaminer.com\/maintopics\/hse_topic-5070134.html\">The HSE<\/a> has confirmed that though Ms Lynch remains in her role, the other Cork IHA manager, Sonya Cotter, who usually covers Cork North and East, is now supporting the hospital due to &#8220;operational and financial challenges&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Nine clinical directors of CUH last week wrote a letter to <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.irishexaminer.com\/news\/politics\/arid-41928194.html\">Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin about ongoing staffing issues in the hospital<\/a>, echoing the concerns of CUH chief executive Jennifer Kearney in a letter to Ms Lynch this summer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Since then, health minister <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.irishexaminer.com\/news\/munster\/arid-41927876.html\">Jennifer Carroll MacNeil has dismissed the concerns<\/a>, repeatedly saying that the hospital has hired twice as many people as had been budgeted for.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">A spokesperson for the HSE said: \u201cPriscilla Lynch remains in her role as IHA manager for Cork South and West.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cIn light of the operational and financial challenges facing CUH, a decision has been taken nationally to undertake a focussed programme of service improvement to address the issues identified.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cSonya Cotter, IHA manager, North and East, and regional lead for acute hospitals, has been nominated by HSE CEO, Ms Anne O\u2019Connor, to provide dedicated performance support to CUH.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Cork East Social Democrat TD and former CUH staff member Liam Quaide said: \u201cNo amount of moving managers around will resolve the impossible position in which CUH and the wider South West region have been placed by Government recruitment restrictions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cStaff are being expected to maintain services and protect patient safety without the workforce they need.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cThe nine clinical directors at CUH have demonstrated their duty of care to patients by collectively raising serious concerns about staffing shortages directly with the Taoiseach.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">This same duty must be demonstrated by HSE management, he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">It comes amid reports that Ms Kearney was warned of possible &#8216;performance management&#8217; action after raising concerns about staffing and patient safety.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Cork Labour senator Laura Harmon said: \u201cHospital leaders must have the confidence to speak openly about risks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cAny suggestion that raising concerns could lead to professional consequences risks discouraging others from speaking out. Patients depend on staff at every level having the confidence to raise the alarm.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new HSE manager has begun a \u201cfocussed programme of improvement\u201d at Cork University Hospital. Priscilla Lynch, the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":679745,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[129137,21911,79,103,397,4892,396,2120,61,60],"class_list":["post-679744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-cuh","tag-hospital-overcrowding","tag-cork-news","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-health-news","tag-healthcare","tag-hse","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/679744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=679744"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/679744\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/679745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=679744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=679744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=679744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}