Full audit now needed on Beacon Hospital over vaccines fiasco

A full HSE audit of the Beacon Hospital in Sandyford must take place and must be followed by real consequences, local Fine Gael TD Neale Richmond has said.

Deputy Richmond welcomed the decision today to suspend the vaccination programme at Beacon Hospital after it admitted supplying Covid vaccines to staff at a school, which was in breach of sequencing guidelines from the HSE.

Deputy Richmond said, “I welcome the decision to suspend vaccine operations at the Beacon, this fiasco has damaged trust and raises many serious questions.

“The decision by the CEO of Beacon Hospital to ignore clear protocols and give vital Covid vaccines to teachers from a school 14km away was both reprehensible and infuriating.

“Within 5km of the Hospital, there are no less than 27 GP practices who have standby lists of deserving people in the next cohort. That should have been the first port of call, there was ample time to do this.

“Needless to say the local reaction to this blatant abuse of abuse of position has been a mixture of raw anger and genuine hurt. When you have cancer patients lying in the very hospital and thousands of more vulnerable individuals in the next cohort living in the vicinity of the hospital, this is not surprising.

“The Beacon Hospital was held in high regard locally as a major employer that has vaccinated over 9,000 people. However, it is also a hospital in receipt of a considerable amount of state funds.

“We now need to have a full audit by the HSE of the Beacon’s participation in the vaccination roll out. How many other vaccines have been administered beyond the agreed protocol? Why were no local GPs contacted? Why was the HSE not contacted when more doses were still left over having gone through the initial reserve list? Who made the decision to administer the vaccines in this blatantly wrong manner?

“Such an audit must be followed with real consequential actions for the Hospital and those responsible; including resignations and loss of contracts,” Deputy Richmond concluded.