Children’s Hospital CEO moves to new role as contract ends

Eilish Hardiman will take up a new role in the children’s hospital group as head of Strategic Programme Director.

Ms Hardiman had been chief executive of the group of children’s hospitals since 2013 and recently concluded a five-year term at the helm of Children’s Health Ireland.

Ms Hardiman’s departure as CEO was announced by the chairman of the board, Dr Jim Browne, in a memo to staff on Friday.'

The memo said: “It is government practice to appoint state-body chief executives on five-year contracts with no more than two contracting periods. Eilsh has come to the end of a 10-year engagement as chief executive” but is “committed to continuing her public service.”

The Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly is understood to have informed the CHI board some time ago that he would not approve the renewal of her term as chief executive in the interests of good governance, according to a source. He also was keen to have a change of leadership.

The board will now seek a new CEO through public recruitment while Fiona Murphy will continue as acting CEO.

Ms Hardiman’s final year as CEO of Children’s Health Ireland has been dogged by controversy over the treatment of children with scoliosis in children’s hospitals.

Investigations are underway into the work of one orthopaedic consultant at Temple Street Children’s hospital, as well as his use of “unauthorised” springs in children undergoing complex spinal surgeries.

The health regulator, Hiqa, is also examining wider governance issues in Children’s Health Ireland, relating to the controls and oversight of use of medical devices and implants across all children’s hospitals.

The Minister for Health, Mr Donnelly, has also asked the HSE to send in auditors to Children’s Health Ireland to examine how it spent €19m that had been allocated for orthopaedic and spinal surgeries.

Mr Donnelly said at the time that the money was intended to bring down wait lists for children’s spinal surgeries from four months to zero. “As we all know, that has not happened,” he said at the time.

Ms Hardiman was personally drawn into the spinal surgery controversies after a letter addressed to her and purporting to be from the paediatric orthopaedic surgeon in question, Connor Green was leaked.

CHI said it had no prior knowledge of the implants. However in the letter supposedly sent in 2020 , Mr Green sought Ms Hardiman’s guidance on the use for surgery of “off-label and experimental techniques using devices not designed for this purpose” which the families of the children involved had consented to.

Ms Hardiman told an Oireachtas health committee hearing last September that she had no memory of seeing or receiving the letter, and she would never have approved unauthorised device implants.

Eilish Hardiman is quoted in the memo saying: “I’m delighted to continue my work at CHI as Strategic Programme Director, especially in this next phase which will see the project be fully realised. The important role is one that I will relish.”

In a statement this evening, Dr Browne said: “The Board is pleased to have retained Eilísh's knowledge, experience, and leadership to deliver on important policy and strategic commitments for CHI This development will ensure CHI' s strategy for child healthcare is delivered while respecting Government practice on state body chief executives tenure.”