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Herald Sun
5 days ago
- Herald Sun
Outback killer Bradley John Murdoch dead at 67
Don't miss out on the headlines from Breaking News. Followed categories will be added to My News. The man convicted of murdering British backpacker Peter Falconio in the Northern Territory in 2001 has died. Bradley John Murdoch, who was serving a life sentence for the backpacker's murder in 2001, was diagnosed with terminal throat cancer in 2019. Outback killer Bradley John Murdoch has died, aged 67. AFP PHOTO/David HANCOCK He was transferred from the Alice Springs Correctional Centre to palliative care earlier this year. He died overnight at Alice Springs Hospital, aged 67. Murdoch was convicted of killing the British backpacker on July 14, 2001. Falconio was travelling with his girlfriend Joanne Lees in a Kombi van along the Sturt Highway, north of Barrow Creek between Darwin and Alice Springs, when another car stopped alongside them and motioned to them to pull over. When the Kombi van pulled over, Murdoch shot Falconio in the head. Murdoch then tried to kidnap Ms Lees, pulling her out of the van and binding her wrists with cable ties before forcing her in the back of his vehicle. While Murdoch went back to his vehicle, Ms Lees managed to escape and hid in the bushes for several hours before she flagged down another driver. Mr Falconio's body has never been found. British backpacker Peter Falconio and his girlfriend Joanne Lees. Murdoch was found guilty of murder in December 2005, and was sentenced to life in jail with a non-parole period of 28 years. He maintained his innocence throughout the trial and tried to overturn the convictions on two occasions, but both were unsuccessful. Murdoch would have been eligible for parole in 2032, but the NT's introduction of 'no body, no parole' laws in 2016 meant he would only have been released if he revealed the location of Mr Falconio's body. Last month, the NT Police Force (NTPF) announced a renewed appeal and $500,000 reward for anyone who provides information leading to the recovery of Mr Falconio's remains. Acting Commissioner Mark Grieve said despite the years that passed, it was 'never too late to reach out and at least start that conversation'. In a statement released on Wednesday morning, NTPF said they remained committed to 'resolving this final piece of the investigation'. 'It is deeply regrettable that Murdoch has died without, as far as we are aware, ever disclosing the location of Peter Falconio's remains,' the statement read. 'His silence has denied the Falconio family the closure they have so long deserved. 'Our thoughts are with the Falconio family in the United Kingdom, whose grief continues. 'We continue to appeal to anyone who may have information that could lead us to Peter Falconio's remains to come forward, no matter how small the detail may seem.' Originally published as Outback killer Bradley John Murdoch dead at 67
RTÉ News
03-07-2025
- Health
- RTÉ News
Legal advice on report must be respected, CHI says
Children's Health Ireland said it has not been evasive in relation to the publication of its internal audit which looked at a number of issues, including culture and the use of waiting list funds. Representatives from the Children's Health Ireland and the National Treatment Purchase Fund Board are before the Public Accounts Committee, which is examining their funding. CHI Chief Executive Lucy Nugent provided more detail about services provided under the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF). Her comments comes after an unpublished Children's Health Ireland report into concerns at one of its hospitals concluded that "a root and branch review" of use of the NTPF and other waiting list initiatives "should be undertaken". The report, which has been seen by RTÉ News, said that a consultant who has since retired had breached guidelines by referring public patients to the doctor's own weekend clinics. In response, CHI said in a statement the clinics did not take place in the consultant's private rooms and instead occurred in a public clinic. Ms Nugent reiterated this at the PAC, saying "there was some misunderstanding in media reports" concerning NTPF payments "to a CHI consultant". "The clinics at the centre of the reports did not take place in the consultant's private rooms," she said. Ms Nugent said they happened in a public CHI hospital on a Saturday as part of a waiting list initiative for an "outpatient appointment only". She said that a longer term sustainable solution for referral management was put in place and the roll out of this system is ongoing. In response to a question posed by Labour TD Eoghan Kenny asking her what she thought of the Taoiseach and Tánaiste's calls for the full report to be published, Ms Nugent said: "I respect their opinion." But she noted that she had legal advice which must be considered, as must her obligation to treat staff fairly. She explained why an "anonymised report" would not make sense, saying the health community is very small and people could be identified. CHI, she said, is a statutory body and must respect the legal advice it receives and the moral imperative to protect the confidentiality of patients. Ms Nugent added CHI has a duty to see that matters are properly investigated and that due process is carried out. This, she said, does not mean CHI is not mindful of the "great upset" that such reports cause parents and children, and the gravity of the issues. The Chief Executive of the National Treatment Purchase Fund told PAC there are another two hospitals that have to provide further clarification on the use of waiting list funding from the public body. Fiona Brady said they have until tomorrow to respond with the information sought. A report on the review of all hospitals will then be completed. Already, three hospitals have been identified with waiting list issues - one CHI hospital, Beaumont and Naas. The Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) said Children's Health Ireland should have brought the findings of its internal audit to the attention of its own team in the course of the 2021 examination of financial statements, the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) has said. Seamus McCarthy told the Public Accounts Committee that recently an internal examination by CHI in 2021/22 has come to public attention. The C&AG said his office was not provided with a copy of the report at the time it was finalised, or when the audit of the hospital's financial statements for 2021 was being undertaken. The C&AG told the committee that while the main focus of the CHI audit was on personnel management concerns in relation to a clinical department in part of the hospital, "it also raises some concerns around a number of financial risks". He said these include the controls over claims in respect of care paid for from the National Treatment Purchase Fund. Mr McCarthy said his office has received the report in recent weeks. CHI declined to publish the report citing legal advice and has published its summary of the audit. Mr McCarthy said that in 2023, CHI had a total income and expenditure of over €190 million, which has grown rapidly in recent years. The CHI board secures treatment and assessments for waiting list patients in private hospitals, and in public hospitals, which offer spare capacity to provide patient care. In 2023, it paid private hospitals €107m and public hospitals €72 - representing 60% reliance on private healthcare providers and 40% reliance on public healthcare providers.
Irish Times
03-07-2025
- Health
- Irish Times
NTPF ready to restore funding to Beaumont Hospital when it receives ‘assurances over use'
The National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) is ready to restore funding for insourcing initiatives to tackle waiting lists at Beaumont Hospital when it receives sufficient assurances regarding its appropriate use, the organisation's chairman Don Gallagher is to tell the Dáil Public Accounts Committee today. The provision of such NTPF funding for Beaumont has been paused since April on foot of what were described as 'potential financial irregularities'. The HSE this week defined insourcing as the practice of engaging external companies or third-party providers to deliver services often outside of normal working hours using public-owned facilities and equipment. It often employs existing healthcare personnel on premium rates. In an opening statement to the Dáil Public Accounts Committee on Thursday, Mr Gallagher will say that upon learning of 'potential issues in relation to NTPF-funded insourcing work at Beaumont Hospital, it immediately suspended all insourcing work and payments at Beaumont and informed the Department of Health and HSE of its concerns'. READ MORE He will say that HSE internal auditors are currently carrying out a detailed review in Beaumont. 'We are ready and willing to recommence insourcing in Beaumont once we receive the necessary assurance regarding the appropriate use of NTPF funds. We are working closely with the HSE regional executive office on this matter.' 'The public must have full confidence and trust in the insourcing process. We are working alongside the Department of Health and HSE to increase governance and oversight across our insourcing work with public hospitals.' The Irish Times reported last month that the catalyst for the suspension of funding for insourcing initiatives was a letter sent by consultants in one specialty to the chairwoman of Beaumont. The letter maintained the hospital had billed the NTPF for about 1,400 patients over a number of years who had actually been seen at regular public clinics. On Wednesday, Fiona Brady, chief executive of the NTPF, told the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health that the letter had been written by rheumatologists at Beaumont Hospital. She said the issue had emerged after she noticed in January that Beaumont Hospital had not applied for insourcing funding. It had received about €8 million the previous year. Ms Brady said she had arranged a meeting with her counterpart at Beaumont at which she was shown a copy of the letter sent by the rheumatologists. She said subsequently a review of invoices submitted over a one-year period had been carried out. 'The NTPF had been billed as if it was additionality,' Ms Brady told the committee. [ HSE chief tells Oireachtas group that 'we took our eye off the ball' Opens in new window ] The Public Accounts Committee is also expected on Thursday to question senior management at Children's Health Ireland (CHI), which runs paediatric hospitals in Dublin. Questioning is expected over an unpublished and highly controversial internal report from 2022 which questioned whether special weekend clinics funded by the NTPF in one specialty had been needed. The NTPF suspended funding for insourcing initiatives at CHI for a period in May and early June after details of the 2022 report were leaked. The funding was later restored.
Irish Times
02-07-2025
- Health
- Irish Times
Naas hospital voluntarily paused insourcing amid concerns over use of public funding
Naas General Hospital voluntarily paused the use of an initiative to tackle waiting lists , after concerns were raised about the way in which public funding was used. The National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF), a vehicle set up to reduce waiting lists, provides funding through outsourcing – the use of private facilities – and insourcing – the use of public facilities and staff outside of core working hours. In recent months concerns have been raised about the way in which the use of insourcing has been governed, after a leaked 2022 report from Children's Health Ireland (CHI) highlighted allegations about potential misuse of these funds. Funding for the hospital was temporarily suspended in light of these allegations but has since resumed, while funding for Beaumont Hospital has also been suspended in light of 'potential financial irregularities'. READ MORE Speaking at a meeting of the Oireachtas health committee on Wednesday, Bernard Gloster , chief executive of the Health Service Executive (HSE), confirmed concerns have also been raised about Naas General Hospital. According to Mr Gloster, the regional executive officer received correspondence outlining potential issues at the hospital. 'It's not unusual when the CHI report.. came the way it did that you would start to see sequentially people starting to express concerns. There is a concern about how NTPF funding was used or governed by Naas hospital. [An] internal audit will look at that,' Mr Gloster said. 'Conservatively' the audit will take about three months, he added. Fiona Brady, chief executive of the NTPF, said: 'Naas of their own volition stopped their own insourcing temporarily while they liaised with myself and my executive team and we are happy they will be rectifying this issue immediately.' Mr Gloster said the issue around insourcing is widespread, and not about individual doctors or hospitals. 'Fundamentally it appears to be a systemic issue, albeit very different in every hospital,' Mr Gloster said. He said there are 'mechanisms of governance' but the 'effectiveness of the governance is probably questionable' in relation to insourcing. In Mr Gloster's report to Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill on the topic, published late on Tuesday, he outlines a desire to wind down the use of insourcing by June of next year. The report states that a growth in insourcing without adequate oversight and controls can create conflicts of interest and lead to noncompliance with procurement rules; inequitable use of public funds, risk of abuse, misuse, fraud and low public confidence. Mr Gloster said the risks of insourcing are 'too high for the public', which is why he believes it should be phased out. An 'over-reliance' on the system has developed over time, he said. In the interim, he said there will be new 'protections' in relation to potential conflicts of interests. In recent years, the health service has taken steps to move towards a longer working week, with health unions last week agreeing to work five over seven days – increasing the hours of work outside of a typical Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. Mr Gloster agreed the existence of insourcing creates an impediment to the extended working week. 'For as long as we have this type of third party insourcing, we will not get to five over seven in the management of waiting lists,' he said. 'Productivity will not be encouraged and risk of conflicts of interest remain.' The health chief was also critical of CHI's decision to to publish an anonymised version of the 2022 report. He expressed confidence in Lucy Nugent, the new chief executive, and the new board members, but said there is a 'way to go to see whether the entity [CHI] is sustainable in the future'.
Irish Examiner
02-07-2025
- Health
- Irish Examiner
Some health services would collapse if 'insourcing' ended overnight, HSE head says
Some health services could collapse if funding for top-up care known as 'insourcing' is removed too suddenly, the Oireachtas Health Committee has heard. The discussion followed publication on Tuesday of a HSE report showing almost €100m was spent in just 27 months on this funding. It is given by the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) to hospitals for reducing waiting lists. However questions have arisen over how this is used, including at Children's Health Ireland. HSE CEO Bernard Gloster said he now expects this funding will be eased out by June 30 next year. He told the committee he asked about the impact of ceasing these payments overnight. 'The system came back to me and said 'if we were to do that in the way you've asked right now, these are the following services that will collapse today,'' he said. He expanded on how enmeshed the top-up funding is in the HSE in response to Senator Teresa Costello. 'There's only one way you can change the culture of dependency on insourcing and that's to end it, that's it, there's no other way to do it,' he said. "You have to end it sensibly and over time.' Staff, he stressed, only did what they were asked as until recently there were few questions asked. He acknowledged this is a failure of governance. Answering questions from Fianna Fáil TD Padraig O'Sullivan, he accepted extra clinics funded by the NTPF offer attractive pay rates to staff involved. 'In the level of the scale of it, I think we took our eye off the ball,' the CEO said. It is very difficult to ask a nurse or anyone else to do ordinary overtime on a Saturday when the possibility now exists that in a different construct, they can get paid much more significantly. The report shows the HSE is giving notice they will not renew or enter in contracts with external providers of insourcing care. Any agreements between now and June need to be approved item by item by hospital CEOs. The report warns of potential impacts including conflicts of interest, non-compliance with HSE procurement rules and risk of abuse or fraud among other issues. Out of 950 companies involved, the bulk is done by 50 larger companies, HSE CFO Stephen Mulvany, told Sinn Féin health spokesman David Cullinane. Some 534 work in hospitals, other clinics mentioned included offering Assessment of Need in the disability sector. 'Perverse incentives' Mr Cullinane asked about 'perverse incentives' and links between the HSE and these external companies. Analysis of directors in 148 companies found 83 staff with links to the HSE or health bodies funded by the HSE under Section 38 arrangements, including some serving staff, Mr Gloster explained. NTPF CEO Fiona Brady defended its oversight processes. She said she is not aware of problems identified by Beaumont Hospital being replicated in other hospitals. A HSE internal audit team has been examining that issue since April, she confirmed to Labour health spokeswoman Marie Sherlock. Mr Gloster also said in the case of University Hospital Limerick (UHL), insourcing funding has helped patients. He told Senator Maria Byrne: 'The weighted average (waiting) time in UHL is below the national average, which is a really significant achievement - because it is the time people are waiting. And you can say ok there was in-sourcing involved in that but at least there was a return.' Regional executive director for the HSE Midwest, Sandra Broderick, said they have made funding requests to hire more specialist consultants to address these waiting lists internally.
