Updated: Management explains as hospital worker racks up €35,000 in overtime

Updated 4.16 p.m. The management of Mater Dei Hospital said this afternoon that despite a shortage of resources, it had cut down on overtime and other shortcomings, including overpayments, highlighted by the Auditor-General in a report tabled in Parliament yesterday. The Audit office had reported that a  hospital consultant received €80,000 in allowances, three nurses were paid a mysterious diving allowance and a payroll officer got €35,000 in overtime... all from taxpayers’ money. In a statement, Mater Dei Hospital said that the issues considered by the auditor were, in most cases, the same ones already under scrutiny by the current management. It said it had cooperated fully with the NAO in order to tackle as many critical issues as necessary. It was clear, it said, that the  shortage of human resources was a main issue which, in turn gave rise to overtime.  "Today at MDH there are three officers and seven clerks catering for the salaries of over 4000 employees. Computerisation of this activity is under way but the complexities due to the wide variety of different salary and allowance arrangements in the different professions are making this implementation long and complex. ...