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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 8 Nov 1995

Vol. 457 No. 8

Adjournment Debate. - Cork Hospital Facilities.

With your permission I wish to share time with Deputy Dan Wallace.

I am sure that is satisfactory and agreed.

I thank you for the opportunity to raise a matter that is of fundamental importance to us in Cork. There is incontrovertible proof of major gaps in the obstetric services in Cork which could lead and may have led to infant deaths. One specialist may be on duty serving two maternity hospitals in the city and in the event of complications arising in both hospitals simultaneously the patients involved could be left without vital life-saving specialist services. No Minister for Health can allow such a serious risk to infants and mothers in public maternity hospitals in Cork. Is not the normal stress which is experienced by expectant mothers before childbirth sufficient without adding to it?

The Minister will also be aware of the concern openly expressed by obstetricians in Cork about the serious danger to life. The position is so serious that obstetricians, gynaecologists and paediatricians made Oireachtas Members aware of the difficulties at a specially convened meeting under the auspices of the Southern Health Board where they outlined the enormous consequences if this situation is allowed to continue.

There are approximately 700 admissions annually of women who miscarry. We are all aware of the trauma, the sense of loss and the depression suffered by those women. The situation is exacerbated when mothers who have experienced the great joy of having a healthy baby are put beside a mother who is experiencing great sorrow and grief at having lost a baby. The Minister will clearly understand that this heightens the sense of loss experienced by a woman who has had a miscarriage or stillbirth. That is totally unsatisfactory and it is a practice known to occur in other health board hospitals.

There are practical difficulties in the provision of suitable accommodation because of the physical layout of both St. Finbar's and Erinville Hospitals. While every effort is made to meet the concerns of women in this position, it is generally not possible to accommodate separately expectant mothers and women who have miscarried.

In the past, the Minister indicated to the Southern Health Board, and in response to me on a previous occasion when I put down this question, that he required the agreement of the various hospitals in Cork. The Minister is aware that agreement has now been reached to locate the obstetrics unit in the grounds of Cork University Hospital. We must have immediate confirmation from the Minister that he will approve the appointment of a design team. I realise the Minister is seeking additional information but the appointment of a design team indicates that we can proceed immediately with this project.

We urgently request the Minister to also make interim arrangements to improve the service being provided to ensure that, for example, specialist services for maternity patients are available in Cork. I ask the Minister to proceed as quickly as possible with the proposals to provide this particular service.

I thank Deputy O'Keeffe for sharing his time with me on this important matter. The Minister is familiar with the situation in Cork. For a number of years it was not clear where the obstetrics services would be located in Cork. The position has now been clarified but some consultants providing maternity services in the area continue to be concerned. They called the various public representatives to a meeting recently to express their concern about being unable to provide facilities to which women are entitled because of the fragmentation of the services.

I ask the Minister to move immediately to allow planning and development proceed as quickly as possible so that these facilities can be provided at Cork University Hospital. I assure the Minister there is genuine concern about this in Cork. Women do not have the facilities to which they are entitled. If they become ill, doctors in another location cannot get across the city in an emergency and the Minister will agree that is unsatisfactory. I hope the Minister has some positive news for us tonight.

Limerick East): Deputies, particularly Cork Deputies, will be aware that one of my first engagements when I became Minister for Health was to visit the Mercy Hospital in Cork. On that occasion, I was told the maternity facilities in Cork were a cause for concern. I indicated then that I would like to see the interested parties working out an agreed proposal. Earlier this year I formally requested the agencies in Cork to enter into round table consultations to agree on a set of proposals on the amalgamation of the maternity and neo-natal services in Cork.

I was pleased, therefore, to learn recently that consensus has been reached between those agencies to amalgamate the services on the Cork University Hospital site. I welcome that decision and reiterate my commitment to putting in place the appropriate resources to support it. It is understood by all parties concerned that this is a long-term solution which will now require detailed planning and examination by the Southern Health Board, in close consultation with the Department. This process is already under way in full co-operation with officials in my Department.

In the interm, the board is considering a number of proposals to address the immediate staffing and safety concerns of the current fragmented service. I look forward to receiving further details of those interim proposals. Once I have received a full report from the board I will be in a position to proceed with the necessary steps for the development of the maternity and neo-natal services in Cork.

My colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Coveney, has asked me to meet a delegation of all Oireachtas Members in the Cork and Kerry constituencies. I am making arrangements to do that and I invite the two Deputies here tonight, and all the Cork and Kerry Deputies, to attend that meeting because the initial impetus to the solution of this longstanding problem came from the Cork and Kerry Deputies from all parties. I would like to hear the views of the elected Members before we proceed to act on the request made tonight.

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