Aengus Ó Snodaigh
Question:639. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Health his future plans for the maternity hospitals in Dublin city; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52347/12]
View answerTuesday, 27 November 2012
Questions (639)
Written answers
A comprehensive review of maternity and gynaecology services in the greater Dublin area was completed in 2008. The 2008 KPMG Independent Review of Maternity and Gynaecology Services in the Greater Dublin Area report noted ‘it is well recognised that for optimal clinical outcome, maternity services should be co-located with adult acute services, or in the case of neonatology and fetal medicine tri-located with adult and paediatric services’. The report noted that Dublin’s model of stand alone maternity hospitals is not the norm internationally and recommended that the Dublin maternity hospitals should be co-located with adult acute services and that one of the three new Dublin maternity facilities should be built on the site of the new national paediatric hospital. Maternity and paediatric service co-location has advantages for infants with congenital malformations, for fetal medicine or complications which require neonatal surgery. Maternity and adult service co-location has advantages for mothers in providing on-campus rapid and ready access to non-obstetric specialist expertise, and to specialist surgery and intensive care in the case of major obstetric emergency.
In this context the proposal in 2008 was that the National Maternity Hospital be relocated to St Vincent's, the Coombe to Tallaght and the Rotunda to the Mater, and the maternity hospitals have been working with the relevant adult sites to progress this.
There will be early discussions with the maternity hospitals regarding their maternity /adult co-location plans in the context of the recent Government decision to build the new children’s hospital on the St James’s campus. Notwithstanding this, I am committed to the intent of the report - that the Dublin maternity hospitals be located alongside adult acute services - while also bearing in mind the need to plan for the provision of tri-located paediatric , adult and maternity services, as is the intention in relation to the new children’s hospital. Management and delivery of health infrastructure programmes, including financing, is the responsibility of the Health Service Executive. However, maternity service capital projects cannot be dealt with in isolation – they must be considered in the context of the HSE's multi-annual programme. In prioritising capital projects within its overall capital allocation, the HSE must take into account existing capital commitments and costs to completion over the period.
Work on the draft Capital Plan for the next multi-annual period, 2013-2017, is in progress and will be submitted to my Department in due course. My Department will then review the proposals and follow up with the HSE where further details may be required. The draft Capital Plan 2013-2017 will require my approval, with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.
My concern, with maternity services as with all health issues, is with patient benefit and patient outcomes. There is a real opportunity for the Dublin maternity service providers to further strengthen their relationship with their partner adult hospital at the earliest opportunity to realise clinical and financial benefits and efficiencies well in advance of physical co-location. We must use, within the acute system, our extremely limited health resources for the maximum possible benefit and to deliver safe, modern services. Any decision on the future delivery of maternity services in Dublin, including the location of those services, will be made in this context.