Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 July 2018
395. Deputy Jack Chambers asked the Minister for Health the status of the recommendations that have been made in internal and external reviews of maternity services in each maternity hospital for the past ten years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30062/18]
View answer396. Deputy Jack Chambers asked the Minister for Health if the HSE has a process in place to collate the recommendations made by internal and external reviews of maternity services in hospitals for the past ten years; the implementation of each of those recommendations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30063/18]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 395 and 396 together.
While I have asked the HSE to reply directly to the Deputy's questions concerning recommendations made following previous reviews of maternity services, I welcome the opportunity to reiterate the Government's commitment to the progressive development of those services and to outline some of the progress which has been made in this regard.
Ireland’s first National Maternity Strategy, ‘Creating A Better Future Together, 2016 – 2026’ was published in January 2016. In addition to population needs, international trends and the findings of a public consultation process, the development of the Strategy was informed by previous reports and experiences of our maternity services, both positive and negative. Indeed, the development of the Strategy delivered on a recommendation from the report, Investigation into the safety, quality and standards of services provided by the Health Service Executive to patients, including pregnant women, at risk of clinical deterioration, including those provided in University Hospital Galway, and as reflected in the care and treatment provided to Savita Halappanavar. Consequently, many recommendations made in past reports are addressed in the Strategy.
The Strategy aims to ensure that appropriate care pathways - Supported, Assisted and Specialised - are in place in order that mothers, babies and families get the right care, at the right time, by the right team and in the right place. It recognises that, while all pregnant women need a certain level of support, some will require more specialised care. Accordingly, it proposes an integrated model that delivers care at the lowest level of complexity and encompasses all the necessary safety nets in line with patient safety principles.
The phased implementation of the Strategy is being led by the National Women & Infants Health Programme, which has been established in the HSE to lead the management, organisation and delivery of maternity, gynaecology and neonatal services across primary, community and acute care. One of the Programme's objectives is to ensure, where relevant, that learning from individual sites is disseminated to all maternity hospitals/units nationwide.
Additional development funding of €4.15 million is being allocated to maternity services this year. The Programme has prioritised improving quality and safety, establishing community midwifery teams and increasing access to anomaly scans. Such initiatives represent essential building blocks to provide a consistently safe and high quality maternity service and will continue to deliver tangible benefits for the 80,000 families who access maternity care each year.
