The report of the review group referred to by the Deputy was submitted to the North Eastern Health Board on 26 April 1999. The board has referred it to the Medical Council. The consultant obstetrician/gynaecologist in question is on administrative leave and no caesarean hysterectomies have been carried out at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, since the matter was first brought to the attention of the board last October.
Since receiving the report, the North Eastern Health Board has taken a number of steps in support of patients who may have been affected by these events. These include a helpline to advise any patient, past or present, on any queries they may have and a comprehensive range of support and counselling services for patients and their families.
Direct contact has been made by the board with the general practitioners of the patients involved to give them information and advice, and, as a precaution, the North Eastern Health Board has arranged for a systematic look-back of all records of the consultant in question prior to 1992.
The North Eastern Health Board and local hospital management are committed to facilitating health professionals to implement all necessary measures to meet the current requirements for quality assurance. Some improvements have or are being introduced by the hospital. These include revised protocols and procedures within the maternity unit, particularly the delivery suite, to ensure best practice.
All staff at the hospital are co-operating fully with the North Eastern Health Board in implementing agreed protocols and procedures, including audits of these procedures. The measures also include: new arrangements, commencing in June, for the management of antenatal clinic admission protocols regarding the assessment and discharge of women who are not in labour; a twice-daily reporting system involving consultants and midwifery staff; improvements in the consultative process regarding the management of midwifery and obstetrical care; and the introduction of customer care satisfaction surveys.
Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, has been in public ownership since May 1997. The question of amending the code of ethics that applied when the hospital was in independent ownership does not arise. The ethical code of any medical practitioner is defined by the Medical Council and the law of the land. The clinical care of a patient is solely a matter for the individual consultant concerned. The question of compensation in this case would be a matter for consideration by the relevant bodies acting on behalf of the consultant in question.
