Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 13 March 2014
247. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Health the number of the extra 38 posts for the Portlaoise maternity unit approved in July 2013 that have been filled; and when he expects the remainder to be filled [12519/14]
View answer252. Deputy Michael Lowry asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the health care system currently has a deficit of over 620 midwives; in view of this information, if he will immediately sanction the recruitment of additional midwives to tackle the shortages in place at present; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12553/14]
View answer269. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been brought to the recent report by the INMO in relation to midwife staffing levels nationally; his views on this report; the measures he intends to take in view of the report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12648/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 247, 252 and 269 together.
I have forwarded the Deputy's question in relation to the recruitment of the additional staff for the maternity unit in Portlaoise to the HSE for direct reply. However, I would take the opportunity to reaffirm that I and the Government are committed to the provision of safe maternity care at Portlaoise and all other maternity hospitals.
The HSE has the authority to appoint additional frontline staff to ensure the provision of safe care. However, it is clear that staff difficulties alone do not explain the very significant findings in the report completed recently by the Chief Medical Officer, particularly those relating to the interactions with patients, behaviour of staff and the general culture of patient safety. I have directed HIQA to undertake an investigation into the matter and to report to him by the end of the year. It is anticipated that many of the, as yet, unanswered questions will be addressed in the course of the HIQA investigation.
The maternity service at Portlaoise Hospital is now under the control of a transition team with appropriate clinical and managerial expertise. This team will oversee the orderly integration of Portlaoise maternity services into a managed clinical network under a single governance model with the Coombe Women & Infant University Hospital. The report recommends that other similar sized maternity services around the country should be incorporated into a managed clinical network within the relevant hospital group. The report not only sets out the immediate requirements for assuring safety for women attending Portlaoise Hospital Maternity Services, but also provides strategic direction for maternity services in Ireland generally.
This Report will inform and underpin the new National Maternity Service Strategy, which will be completed by the Department of Health this year. The Strategy will provide the strategic direction for the optimal development of our maternity services to ensure that women have access to safe, high quality maternity care in a setting most appropriate to their needs
Midwifery staffing levels are receiving consideration as a priority. The inaugural meeting of the Midwifery Workforce Planning Project took place on Tuesday 7 May, 2014. The aim of this project is to examine the current levels of midwifery staffing and healthcare assistants in the HSE and recommend appropriate staffing levels and or initiatives to improve skill mix. The objectives of the project are to:
- Identify the key changes in maternity services and their likely impact on the requirement for midwives and maternity care assistants, taking into account recent and upcoming developments as a result of service reconfiguration, government policy, industrial relations agreements, clinical research findings, Clinical Care Programme outputs, and changing demography,
- Establish baseline midwifery and maternity care assistant staffing in all maternity units by undertaking a benchmarking exercise. This will include:
- Examining the midwifery workforce planning needs in a defined number of maternity hospitals nationally using Birthrate plus to include 2 large sized units/hospitals, 2 medium sized maternity units and 2 smaller units.
- As a result recommend appropriate midwifery staffing and skill mix levels and/or initiatives to meet emerging models of maternity care ensuring that standards of safety and quality care for women and their families are met in the future.
