‘Shock’ in HSE at St John of God’s plan to shut over funding
A WAR of words has broken out between the HSE and one of the State’s largest providers of mental health and disability services, after the latter claimed it was forced to close and hand over its operations due to a lack of funding.
Yesterday, Saint John of God Community Services (SJOGCS) – which has been dogged by allegations of financial mismanagement in recent years – said it would transfer all services for its 8,000 users to the HSE later this year, blaming a €30million funding shortfall.
It said there had been a ‘failure to conclude a funding agreement with the HSE’.
However, the HSE has said that it is ‘shocked and disappointed’ by the announcement, claiming there is ‘no reason to transfer service’, as it called on SJOGCS to ‘reengage’ on funding.
HSE chief executive Bernard Gloster said the organisation had ‘more than enough money’ to continue, adding it was not ‘appropriate or responsible’ for SJOGCS to declare it was handing over its services.
‘If, despite substantial assistance in a €200million grant to SJOGCS annually, they remain insistent on withdrawing from service provision, then we will require them to do so in an orderly and appropriate fashion, having regard to the rights of service users and their staff,’ Mr Gloster said. In a letter to the SJOGCS board, he also expressed his ‘absolute shock’ at what he described as ‘the anxiety being unnecessarily caused to many people’, RTÉ reported.
Mr Gloster stated: ‘I would have thought an organisation of SJOG’s stated ethos and values could distinguish between a complex process between organisations and the vulnerability of the people we are all paid to serve’.
He said the HSE would have ‘no alternative’ but to respond to the ‘very misinformed public narrative’.
A spokeswoman for the HSE said it was ‘shocked and disappointed’ at the announcement and ‘the manner in which they have chosen to communicate that to families’. She said the group has broken even ‘each year for several years, with the help of substantial HSE support, and there is no reason to believe 2024 will be any different’.
She added: ‘As recently as February 15, the HSE CEO set out an extensive financial package to the SJOG.’ Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said the HSE, Department of Health and Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth had engaged ‘in good faith’.
‘I would encourage all sides to continue that process,’ he said. Clare Dempsey, SJOGCS chief executive, said it was a heartbreaking day for the organisation, which works in 300 locations across Dublin, Kildare, Kerry, Wicklow, Meath, Monaghan and Louth.
‘Today represents the saddest day in the history of our long-established service, which has been in operation since the 1930s,’ she said.
We will do all in our power to conduct a smooth transfer of service to [the] HSE and will seek to minimise the impact on the 8,000 people availing of our services, as well as our 3,000 valued staff.’
Ms Dempsey said St John of God’s difficulties could be traced back as far as the period of austerity which followed the banking crisis.
‘During that time our funding was cut very significantly,’ she said. ‘The funding we lost was never replaced.’ The SJOGCS told the HSE last month that if it did not secure a bailout of more than €30million, it would have to shut.
In late 2022, whistleblower Shane Corr told The Irish Mail on Sunday that a €1.6million hole in a pension fund for St John of God employees was kept secret from them. Mr Corr told the Irish Daily Mail yesterday: ‘I made protected disclosures about the St John of God’s group 14 months ago. Alas, my worst fears have come to pass.’
‘Worst fears have come to pass’