HSE Paid €720,000 Invoice Twice – Audit Findings
HSE Faces Millions in Losses Amid Procurement Failures and Inefficient Operations
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Dublin, Ireland – The Health Service Executive (HSE) has been hit with important financial losses in 2024, totaling an estimated €4.1 million, primarily due to delays in submitting completed claims. This figure, revealed in a recent audit, highlights ongoing challenges within the organization’s administrative and operational processes.
millions Lost to Claim Submission Delays
An audit has pinpointed that losses incurred in 2024 as a direct result of delayed claim submissions amounted to €2 million. The Executive’s own estimates suggest that further losses from other managed hospitals reached €2.1 million, bringing the total estimated loss for the year to €4.1 million. These figures underscore a critical need for improved efficiency in claims processing and management.
High Executive Salaries and Procurement Concerns
The annual report also shed light on ample payments to HSE employees.One HSE staff member received nearly €700,000 in total payments last year, encompassing basic pay, allowances, overtime, and weekend, night duty, and on-call fees. In total, 10 HSE staff members were paid in excess of €500,000 overall.
Further concerns have been raised regarding procurement practices. The report details that personal protective equipment (PPE) valued at approximately €22 million and vaccines worth about €11 million had to be written off due to obsolescence.
Questionable Supplier Arrangements and Lack of Oversight
A significant issue highlighted involves a supplier who received approximately €15 million up to 2024 for diagnostic devices, ancillary supplies, equipment, and IT support. This arrangement, initially established in 2020 under emergency circumstances without competitive procurement, continued annually until 2024 without being regularized through a proper tendering process. This represents a significant instance of non-compliant procurement over several years.
Crucially, the terms of this arrangement were not formalized in a written contract. Payments were made to the supplier based on invoices from various HSE units. A concerning aspect is the lack of central record-keeping by the Executive regarding the total number of units paid for, the number of devices received by hospitals, or the quantity of items paid for but not yet drawn down. Consequently, the HSE does not know how many of the paid-for items were actually utilized in its hospitals.
Adding to these procurement woes, the report discloses that one invoice from the supplier, valued at €723,000, was paid twice in December 2021 across separate financial systems within the executive.The HSE has not yet recovered this overpayment from the supplier.