The Director General of the HSE has said the organisation is comparable “only to Post-Saddam Iraq”.
HSE Director General Tony O'Brien has admitted that the Health Service is 'odd', with “the particular mix of public and private provisions we have here" making the HSE "probably only comparable to Post-Saddam Iraq.”
“In terms of developed countries with our population density and our population size, the number of acute locations we have is quite large,” he added.
Appearing before the Oireachtas Health Committee, Mr O’Brien also said HIQA's report into Portlaoise Hospital is a watershed.
Several babies died at Portlaoise in recent years, prompting an investigation by the health watchdog.
Mr O'Brien says HIQA's highly critical report will fundamentally change how the HSE operates.
“This report is a watershed. I think that it has a huge impact, now and into the future on the interplay between government policy and funding and the role that the HSE must play in interpreting those issues, in deciding how services will be provided.
“It does have a fundamental impact on how the Health Service will have to operate in the future,” he said.
The committee earlier heard from bereaved parents, one of whom said she had no faith in current HSE management. TD Regina Doherty said she is ashamed of the treatment of people by the HSE.
