Portiuncula audit warns of risks from overpayment
An internal audit has flagged risks of the potential for overpayment of allowances to staff at Portiuncula University Hospital.
The audit – released under Freedom of Information – concluded that there was a ‘high’ risk of overpayments of allowances paid to staff which were not in line with the Department of Health consolidated pay scales.
A ‘high’ risk rating indicates there is a “significant risk of substantial financial loss and/or accounting error, and/or of major non-compliance with procedures, policies or regulations and requires immediate action”.
HSE West’s Internal Audit Office recommended that management at the Ballinasloe hospital “should only pay approved fixed payroll allowances that are on the Department of Health consolidated pay scales or a HSE HR circular”.
It also identified two medium risks, where there was a “moderate risk of financial loss, and/or of accounting error, and/or of non-compliance with procedures, policies or regulations and requires immediate action”.
The internal audit said that “management did not have a control in place for the ongoing monitoring of rates entitlement and the payment of fixed payroll allowances on a periodic basis”.
The risk implication of this was that “fixed payroll allowances may be paid to staff which they no longer may be entitled to”.
It recommended that “management should put in place a control for ongoing monitoring of rates, entitlement and the payment of fixed payroll allowances”.
Management at Portiuncula commented in the audit that it had a system that generated a random sample of payments each month reviewed by HR for entitlement accuracy and for numerical accuracy.
The audit also identified a medium risk that “a qualification allowance may be paid to staff for which they have not obtained the relevant qualification”.
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