Staff at Cork University Hospital are “fearful” of attending meetings amid concerns they might be recorded, according to Health Service Executive Chief Executive Anne O’Connor.
O’Connor made the comments during an interview on RTÉ’s This Week programme, addressing mounting controversy at the facility following a leaked warning letter from CUH CEO Jennifer Kearney.
Kearney had previously alerted superiors that a shortfall of roughly 1,000 staff, including 172 priority posts, left the hospital unsafe heading into the winter months. As of Friday, 45 people were waiting for beds at the facility, marking the third-highest total nationally behind University Hospital Limerick and University Hospital Galway, while 70 patients waited on trolleys on Monday.
Earlier this month, nine clinical directors at the hospital wrote directly to Taoiseach Micheál Martin regarding the ongoing staffing crisis. Despite senior clinicians calling for an independent assessment of staffing needs, O’Connor dismissed the suggestion.
“To be honest, I don’t think we need it. We can look at the staff complements. We can see the census, we can see the figures,” she said, adding that staffing levels had grown across 2026.
Staff Fear Being Recorded During Meetings
Detailing the atmosphere inside the hospital, O’Connor pointed to a breakdown in workplace communication as her primary concern.
“What worries me probably the most at the minute is the number of staff that I speak to in the hospital who are really very upset about what is going on, who are fearful of going to meetings because they fear they may be recorded. That [applies to] staff within the hospital and staff from outside the hospital going into meetings,” O’Connor said.
“So, we have reached a point where people are just not working together effectively and my ask of everybody is that we get into open and transparent conversations,” she added.
Additional reports indicate that a meeting in August between HSE South West regional executive officer Andy Phillips and senior CUH figures was recorded.
Official minutes previously recorded Phillips telling Kearney that he had been instructed by the offices of the Taoiseach and the Minister for Health to hold specific conversations with her.
Although that claim was initially denied to the point where the Taoiseach told the Dáil during Leaders’ Questions that false assertions had been made about his office, a subsequent audio recording confirmed Phillips had referenced the Taoiseach’s office during the meeting.
Addressing the fallout, O’Connor expressed continued confidence in Phillips.
“I don’t think anybody set out to mislead anybody. It did happen though and it shouldn’t have happened. It was a heat of the moment conversation. Andy has subsequently clarified that he did say those things and that he wasn’t instructed. I think there was frustration on the day, and I think in the heat of the moment that was said,” O’Connor said.
Sinn Féin Calls for Funding Priority Posts
Reacting to the developments, Sinn Féin health spokesperson David Cullinane expressed deep concern over the “very real patient safety risks highlighted by hospital management but also healthcare trade unions and staff.”
“The Government has to fund the priority posts that are necessary to ensure that we have safe staff in that hospital over the course of the next number of months,” Cullinane said.
Speaking on RTÉ’s The Week in Politics, Minister of State at the Department of Justice Catherine Ardagh suggested that Kearney should be permitted to appear before the Public Accounts Committee to address staffing and safety issues. Ardagh said that a Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) report concerning the facility is due on the Minister for Health’s desk within weeks.
Meanwhile, Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill dismissed safety concerns at the facility, stating she would have no hesitation in recommending the hospital to a sick relative.
O’Connor confirmed that the hospital’s chief executive has not requested a meeting with her, and stated she will monitor the implementation of regional plans closely.
