Martin urges independent external reviews of maternity deaths

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has called for independent external reviews into maternity deaths following two fatalities in Cavan and a death at the National Maternity Hospital in Dublin.

And he said there was no information available and no published reports about four deaths in 2015.

Raising the issue in the Dáil, he asked Taoiseach Enda Kenny: “Do you accept that our maternity services are under- resourced and there’s a need for urgent intervention and transparent action?

“Shouldn’t we be having independent external reviews rather than internal inquiries, either by Hiqa or independent external” agencies, he asked.

Mr Kenny said it was important to have the internal investigations and if an external inquiry was then necessary, “that can happen”.

The Taoiseach said the master of the National Maternity Hospital had commissioned a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Malak Kuzbary Thawley. He added that he wanted to “stress the importance of patient confidentiality and sensitivity to the needs of this family at this time”.

Expressing his condolences to the families of the two babies who died at Cavan General Hospital, Mr Kenny said the Health Service Executive had confirmed that the RCSI Hospital Group was conducting a review of both these cases.

Referring to the deaths in 2015, he said “one of the reviews has been completed and two others are at an advanced stage”. Stressing that “the safety and quality of Ireland’s maternity services was a priority for the Government”, he said there was a national maternity strategy for the first time.

Obstetricians

Mr Martin highlighted figures showing that between 2004 and 2013 Ireland had the highest birth rate of 34 OECD countries, but the third-lowest number of obstetricians per 100,000 women.

He said there was a “fundamental manpower issue and a fundamental resource issue”. He also said only an additional €3 million was provided for maternity services in 2016 and there was an over-reliance on locum and agency staff.

Referring to recruitment, Mr Kenny said that in the last 15 months the numbers working in acute hospitals increased by about 3,500, or 7 per cent of the workforce.

And the overall HSE employee numbers increased by 5,856 last year, “an extra 1,300 in the first quarter of 2016 alone”, he said.

He acknowledged there were shortages in areas such as emergency medicine, anaesthesia and psychiatry, “but these are not specific to the Irish health system”.