C. Flower
29-05-2010, 11:56 AM
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/frontpage/2010/0529/1224271393372.html
The appointment of Cathal Magee as Head of the HSE deserves its own thread. Magee's early career was with one of the Health Boards and he's been on the VHI Board. He was also Chairman of EBS ("nationalised" yesterday) Risk Committee. He left Eircom, after 15 years, in February.
Amazingly, we are told that nobody qualified would do the job for the advertised amount of €200,000 + and an extra 100,000 has been added to his salary to bring it to €322,000.
Would it be too cynical to say he has the look of an establishment figure paid well to do a hatchet job ?
The Times says
What the State needs is a single-minded individual who is determined to implement a five-year shake-up of the HSE. Jobs will have to be cut, but not at the expense of front-line services to patients. Early success in pruning its bloated higher management levels would see the new chief executive putting down a marker for the rest of his term.
With Harney having made a formal agreement that HSE management jobs would not be cut, what chance is there of that ?
THE SAGA of appointing a new chief executive of the Health Service Executive (HSE) has finally ended. Cathal Magee is the third choice for the job, behind original front-runner and stated favourite of Mary Harney – Prof Tom Keane – and behind Mike Read, an experienced Australian health administrator. Both of these candidates had the advantage of coming from outside the Irish system; Magee’s early career was in the health boards, regional precursors to the HSE.
A board member of the VHI, the new chief executive has a particularly strong background in human resources. In his time with Eircom, he was noted for adopting a low-key, conciliatory approach to the unions, while at the same time delivering a major reform package for the telecoms company.
The appointment of Cathal Magee as Head of the HSE deserves its own thread. Magee's early career was with one of the Health Boards and he's been on the VHI Board. He was also Chairman of EBS ("nationalised" yesterday) Risk Committee. He left Eircom, after 15 years, in February.
Amazingly, we are told that nobody qualified would do the job for the advertised amount of €200,000 + and an extra 100,000 has been added to his salary to bring it to €322,000.
Would it be too cynical to say he has the look of an establishment figure paid well to do a hatchet job ?
The Times says
What the State needs is a single-minded individual who is determined to implement a five-year shake-up of the HSE. Jobs will have to be cut, but not at the expense of front-line services to patients. Early success in pruning its bloated higher management levels would see the new chief executive putting down a marker for the rest of his term.
With Harney having made a formal agreement that HSE management jobs would not be cut, what chance is there of that ?
THE SAGA of appointing a new chief executive of the Health Service Executive (HSE) has finally ended. Cathal Magee is the third choice for the job, behind original front-runner and stated favourite of Mary Harney – Prof Tom Keane – and behind Mike Read, an experienced Australian health administrator. Both of these candidates had the advantage of coming from outside the Irish system; Magee’s early career was in the health boards, regional precursors to the HSE.
A board member of the VHI, the new chief executive has a particularly strong background in human resources. In his time with Eircom, he was noted for adopting a low-key, conciliatory approach to the unions, while at the same time delivering a major reform package for the telecoms company.