Leper,
I don’t I think anyone is trying to run down people who are doing a good job and I am not particularly advocating privatization.
As you say, many government departments and semi-state companies have embraced technology and modernized and streamlined their operations because they realized they had to in order to continue to exist.
If, for whatever reason, certain people in the HSE are clinging to an obsolete and wasteful modus operandi and obstinately resisting any moves to bring about 21st century efficiencies, including technology, then they should not be surprised if there is a decision to privatize.
They will have no one to blame but themselves.