Brendan Griffin
Question:668. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Health for advice and clarification on a matter (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32660/23]
View answerTuesday, 4 July 2023
Questions (668)
Written answers
Progressing women’s health is a priority for myself and for this Government. We made a strong commitment to Promoting Women’s Health in the Programme for Government and are fully committed to the continued development and improvement of women’s health services and to working with women and girls to improve their health and experiences of healthcare across the whole life cycle.
In relation to funding for postnatal care, we have seen a number of key developments in this area through the National Maternity Strategy and the Women’s Health Action Plan, with postnatal services funded and developed to provide vital care to women in the weeks after birth.
The Women’s Health Action Plan 2022-23 was published on 8 March 2022, marking International Women’s Day. The Action Plan identifies key actions to improve health outcomes and experiences for women in Ireland. Action 7(a) of the Women’s Health Action Plan 2022-23 prioritises postnatal care and commits to “exploring new ways to support postnatal women better, and closer to home, learning from the postnatal hub pilot programme."
The Women's Health Fund was established in 2021 to support the Women's Health Action Plan 2022-2023. The purpose of the Women's Health Fund is to enable the Department to respond to women's health issues raised in year. Budget 2022 allocated €10m to the fund for the progression of initiatives that align with the overall goals of the Women's Health Action Plan, to improve women's health outcomes and experiences.
In 2022, I funded the development of two community postnatal hubs, located in Tralee and Kilkenny. The objective of the establishment of these hubs is that, regardless of care pathway or length of stay post birth, all women will have access to a comprehensive range of services within the community for a period of 10- to 14 days postpartum.
In addition to the Women’s Health Fund, work is progressing as follows:
• Significant progress continues in implementing the National Maternity Strategy. Under Budgets 2021 and 2022, a total of almost €16m in new development funding was provided for maternity services to continue and accelerate this progress in line with the Programme for Government.
• This investment is providing for additional staff into maternity services, covering a variety of disciplines, including, obstetrics, neonatology, endocrinology, anaesthetics, dietetics, midwifery, physiotherapy, and occupational therapy. It is improving the infrastructure of our maternity services by providing additional home-from-home birthing suites, upgrades to theatres and wards, as well as providing additional training and supports for maternity staff.
• A framework for the development of five postnatal hubs has been finalised by the HSE's National Women & Infants Programme (NWIHP); this includes the two hubs funded through the Women’s Health Fund. The HSE has advised that recruitment is underway for all five postnatal hubs, which will be located in Kilkenny, Kerry, Cork, Portiuncula and Sligo. These hubs will support women for up to 14 days post birth by addressing many of the gaps identified by women in postnatal care including education, breastfeeding, physiotherapy, emotional and physical supports.
Implementation of the services listed above represents significant development and advancement for women's health nationwide, but this remains a work in progress. I am committed to the full implementation of the Women's Health Action Plan 2022-23 and will continue to drive progress in all areas of women's health to fulfil its mandate into the future.