An investigation has been launched into a nursing home in Dublin to determine if emails were deleted from an IT system after a member of staff raised concerns regarding access to personal protective equipment (PPE).
The minutes of a HSE meeting for the Dublin area on May 14th were received by Fine Gael TD Fergus O'Dowd following a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, showing health officials were told to "take emails off the system", according to the Irish Times.
The complaint had been made by a staff member in St Mary's Hospital in the Phoenix Park in the week proceeding the meeting, when the HSE-run centre was one of the worst-impacted facilities in the country, confirming 24 deaths due to Covid-19.
The minutes showed staff from St Mary's and the Dublin city community health organisation (CHO) were told to they were responsible for the direction which was to happen immediately.
However, a HSE spokesperson told the Irish Times the instructions were to comply with procedures regarding protected disclosure as they related to a whistleblower complaint.
"No request was made to remove emails and no emails were deleted. We accept that the wording as highlighted does not reflect this clearly and we apologise for any confusion caused," the HSE spokesperson said.
The HSE added St Mary's has co-operated with the investigation, providing all information requested.
The situation is being investigated by an independent Dublin-based mediation and dispute resolution company, Acrux Consulting.
