Micheál Martin
Question:443. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Minister for Health if he will meet with persons (details supplied) to discuss a family matter. [42781/15]
View answerTuesday, 1 December 2015
Questions (443, 449)
Micheál Martin
Question:449. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Minister for Health if there will be accountability for the events that led to an incident in a hospital (details supplied). [42818/15]
View answerWritten answers
I propose to take Questions Nos. 443 and 449 together.
At the outset I would like to offer my sincerest condolences to the family involved in this case. The Deputy will appreciate that I have a limited role in individual cases and do not have access to individual patient files or personal information. I am informed that the HSE and the Coombe Hospital have been in contact with this family on an on-going basis over a number of years and has apologised to them for the death of their child 23 years ago.
I understand that, in 2012, the Coombe Hospital initiated a systems review to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of this infant in 1992.
This review, which was undertaken in line with HSE Incident Management Policy and Guidelines, concluded that there were deficiencies in care, which contributed to the child’s death.
It is important that we learn from these adverse incidents, as the single most important obligation for any health service is patient safety and improving the quality of care. That is why this Government is committed to improving the quality and safety of Ireland’s maternity services.
A National Women’s and Infant Health Programme will be established by the HSE to drive improvement and standardise care across all 19 maternity units. The Maternity Strategy currently under development will provide the policy to direct and underpin the work of the programme. Developing the strategy will help us identify how we can improve the quality and safety of care provided to pregnant women and their babies. There was also an additional €2 million provided to the HSE in 2015, to improve maternity services. This funding provided for the appointment of additional staff including obstetricians, midwives and other staff.
We will build on these improvements through the provision of further additional resources for maternity services in 2016, the detail of which will be set out in the HSE’s National Service Plan.
I have previously written to the family of this child expressing my sincerest condolences. However, as you can appreciate, it would not be appropriate for me to intervene on an individual case.