Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 27 May 1999

Vol. 505 No. 5

Written Answers. - Obstetric Care Inquiry.

Alan Shatter

Question:

36 Mr. Shatter asked the Minister for Health and Children if, further to Parliamentary Question No. 1 of 20 November 1997 concerning the death of a baby in Sligo General Hospital and subsequent correspondence, he has received from the maternity unit at Sligo General Hospital all of the comprehensive information sought by him as referred to in his letter of 16 March 1998; the information obtained as a result of his inquiries; his views on the concerns expressed by persons (details supplied) in County Mayo; and the steps, if any, being taken by his Department or the North-Western Health Board to address the concerns expressed. [11430/99]

Alan Shatter

Question:

87 Mr. Shatter asked the Minister for Health and Children if, further to Parliamentary Question No. 1 of 20 November 1997 concerning the death of a baby in Sligo General Hospital and subsequent correspondence, he has received from the maternity unit at Sligo General Hospital all of the comprehensive information sought by him as referred to in his letter of 16 March 1998; the information obtained as a result of his inquiries; his views on whether the concerns expressed by persons (details supplied) in County Mayo; and the steps, if any, to be taken by his Department or the North Western Health Board to address the concerns expressed. [14105/99]

Minister for Health and Children (Mr. Cowen)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 36 and 87 together.

I again express my sincere condolences to the parents of the baby in question. The circumstances surrounding the baby's death in September 1995 were investigated in detail by the North-Western Health Board. The consultant pathologist at Sligo General hospital concluded that the baby died as a result of a severe intra-uterine infection which occurred between two and four weeks before the birth. These conclusions were supported independently by a consultant pathologist and a neuropathologist at two Dublin hospitals.

The parents of the baby later sought a wider investigation of the general standards at the maternity unit in Sligo General hospital. To establish whether there was a basis for a detailed inquiry, my Department sought and obtained specific details from the North-Western Health Board regarding the operation and performance of the maternity unit. The information, which has been reviewed by the chief medical officer of my Department, indicates that: the maternity unit's peri-natal death rate for the last five years has been in line with the average for all maternity units around the country, and in a number of years it has been lower than the national average. The peri-natal death rate, i.e. number of still births plus deaths in the first seven days of life, expressed per 1,000 live births, is regarded as a prime indicator of the quality and performance of a maternity unit; the hospital's approach to quality assurance and related measures at the hospital is satisfactory. The North-Western Health Board provided my Department with details of ante-natal education, epidural services, neo-natal resuscitation, staff development and training and related areas such as health promotion and colposcopy services; the speciality of obstetrics-gynaecology received a total of just 13 formal complaints in the period 1995-97. This compares with a total of 3,648 births in the hospital during the same period. I understand that these complaints were satisfactorily addressed and involved the hospital's complaints officer and-or the consultant involved.

In the circumstances, I do not consider that a further investigation of the operation of the maternity unit at Sligo General Hospital would be appropriate.