Running out of promise
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BY their deeds you shall know them, but in the unhappy three-year history of the Mary Harney and HSE double-act, it is the misdeeds that stand out. Generally, a period of calm follows a tsunami like the John Fitzgerald report on the mammogram cancer scandal.
But the Health Minister once more struggled to keep her head above the waves yesterday, as another aftershock struck with the emergence of a letter predicting catastrophe as far back as 2002.
The sudden appearance of the letter, which both Ms Harney and her predecessor Micheal Martin claim not to have seen, could not be more damaging.
It was at once, both a humiliation and an embarrassment for the beleaguered minister. The fact that it surfaced during a Dail Committee meeting verges on the GUBU-esque. What alarms and unnerves so many is that, although some of the highest paid people in the public service work in the HSE, no one seems to be accountable.
Ms Harney had gone on record to say that senior civil servants had been unable to find the letter.
The missive starkly warned of serious deficiencies in cancer services at the Midlands Regional Hospital, Portlaoise.
It was written by consultant Peter Naughton.
Its significance cannot be understated, as Dr James Reilly for Fine Gael pointed out: "If action had been taken then, then these women would not have had to suffer."
Last night, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny was even accusing the department of a cover-up over interference with the file containing the letter.
It is certainly curious that Dr Ann O'Doherty, the author of one of three reports on the cancer crisis, was able to confirm the existence of the letter, while the minister was telling the Oireachtas Committee that the department had no record of it.
It is worth reminding ourselves that Ms Harney, on accepting the admittedly poison chalice of the health portfolio, went on record to say she would stand or fall by her record.
There is no point in denying she has been losing altitude at an alarming rate, and is now dangerously near to crash landing by the standards of any altimeter.
There is also a trail of white smoke following Prof Drumm.
Both jobs come without a parachute; success or failure is all.
Prof Drumm had another bad day at the office yesterday. After stating categorically that test failure rates were no different in Portlaoise than anywhere else, he was forced to admit they were indeed higher when Dr O'Doherty took the trouble to publicly correct him.
All of this further undermines confidence in the health system which Prof Drumm admitted himself was "dysfunctional".
Neither Prof Drumm nor the minister can survive too many more crises like those of the past 48 hours.
Women are entitled to ask if the department cannot keep records of letters that could mean the difference between life and death, how can they have faith on it?
If public trust is to be restored, then clearly we need to see some evidence of the 'New Dawn' promised by Prof Drumm some three-and-a-half years ago.
People are asking if the HSE is a failed entity. Its critics point out that when the four health boards were abolished and replaced by the new structure there were no redundancies.
The bottom line is that women have been let down. There are currently 130,000 employees within the HSE yet no one appears responsible.
Ms Harney has made progress in tackling pharmacies on drug prices and breaking down the out-moded practices jealously guarded by consultants.
It is a truism of management that the most successful people are said to be those who are good at Plan B.
Ms Harney is rapidly running out of time. What is needed now is a stamp of authority. We have seen too little of promise and heard too many promises.
