The Health Information and Quality Authority has today announced the membership of the Investigation Team who will undertake the independent investigation into the quality and safety of patient care at the Mid Western Regional Hospital, Ennis. 

The investigation will seek to establish if safe, quality services are in place at the Hospital and, if risks to patients are identified, recommendations will be made to address them. Where appropriate, national recommendations on wider service improvements will also be made. The investigation will be chaired by the Chief Executive of the Calderdale and Huddersfield Foundation Trust in West Yorkshire, Diane Whittingham. Diane was previously Chief Executive of the Huddersfield NHS Trust and has more than 30 years experience of health service management working in a range of organisations. The investigation will be undertaken by the Authority and will include the following advisors:

• Diane Whittingham (Chair) - Chief Executive of Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Trust, England
• Mary Dunnion - Director of Nursing, Mercy University Hospital, Cork
• Alan McKinney – Clinical Director and Consultant in Emergency Medicine, Western Health and Social Care Trust, Northern Ireland
• Christine Murphy-Whyte - Chair of Europa Donna Ireland
• Henry Osborne - Consultant Surgeon, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin
• Dermot Power - Consultant in Geriatric Medicine, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital and St Mary's Hospital, Dublin

The investigation report, and its recommendations, will be published following the completion of the investigation.

Ends.

Further Information: 

Marty Whelan, Head of Communications and Stakeholder Engagement

01 8047651 / 086 2447623 mwhelan@hiqa.ie

Notes to the Editor: 

On 24th September, following a meeting of the Board of the Health Information and Quality Authority, and a request from the Minister for Health and Children, the Authority confirmed it would undertake an independent investigation of the management of quality and safety arrangements at the Mid Western Regional Hospital, Ennis, pursuant to Section 9(2) of the Health Act 2007.