Concern raised over Portiuncula review delays

Concerns have been expressed by a local TD over the delay of reviews into maternity and A&E services at Portiuncula Hospital.

The reports were due to be published before year-end, but this has been postponed because of the “complexity and scale of the work to be undertaken”.

Independent Deputy Denis Naughten questioned the timing of the publication, worrying that it could be earmarked for after the General Election – with the intention that a new Health Minister downgrade maternity and A&E services at the hospital.

The review of care provided to women in the maternity unit at Portiuncula was commissioned following the death of two babies during childbirth in a nine-month period in 2014, and will concentrate on a total of 18 cases.

The Saolta Hospital Group – which operates Portiuncula – said affected families will be provided with their draft sections of the report in January in advance of its completion.

A separate review of A&E services is also being conducted at all Saolta hospitals – UHG, Merlin Park, Portiuncula, Roscommon, Sligo, Mayo and Letterkenny.

Deputy Naughten said it was “very concerning” that the publication of reviews has been delayed and he feared a downgrade in services in Ballinasloe.

“The review of maternity services was sought by families and staff at Portiuncula Hospital to provide parents with the facts of what happened to their babies in the hospital and, secondly, to ensure that the supports and staffing were put in place to sustain the second busiest maternity unit in the West of Ireland.

“Just last month, I was told that we would have this report by the end of the year, but now it seems that it is to be pushed out again until ‘early 2016’.

“There has always been a fear that a report commissioned by the Saolta Hospital Group would be used to implement a previous internal review to downgrade the maternity unit at Portiuncula Hospital.

“The further delay to the completion and publication of the report adds to these concerns.

“Furthermore, the Saolta University Hospital Group is currently conducting a review of A&E services at all of its hospitals, and there is a fear that this will be used as a tool to downgrade the Emergency Department at the hospital.

“Interestingly, the review is not expected to be completed until after the upcoming General Election and the fear is that it may follow the ‘Roscommon model’ of pressurising a new Health Minister to act quickly.

“Back in 2014, the Department of Health made a submission to the Budget which included a proposal to remove the 24/7 A&E from Portiuncula Hospital.

“At that time Minister Leo Varadkar gave a guarantee that this would not happen under his watch.

“However, the current review will cause a lot of concern locally and if it were to be implemented not only will patients have further to travel to avail of emergency care but it will push our over-stretched ambulance service beyond breaking point,” said Denis Naughten.

In response to queries from the Connacht Tribune, a Saolta spokesperson issued the following statement: “[We] have advised the families concerned in the review of Maternity Services at Portiuncula that it is now likely that it will be the first quarter of 2016 before the final review is completed and have apologised for the delay in completing the review.

“This is due to the complexity and scale of the work to be undertaken, given the increase in the number of cases (18 in total) being reviewed.

“In addition to meetings with families, there have been 250 staff interviews carried out involving the 18 cases.

“As part of the process, in early January the families will be provided with the section of the draft report detailing the individual timeline of the events relating to their case to check for accuracy in advance of final completion of the review.

“In the letter to families, the Group acknowledged “that this is a particularly difficult time of year to deal with issues that no doubt cause you and your family upset” and explained that it wanted to ensure that families were kept up-to-date on the work that has been undertaken to date.

“Regular re-audits at the maternity unit have confirmed that there is no continuing patient safety concern arising from the issues identified.

“There have been no negative perinatal outcomes at Portiuncula since the enhanced monitoring measures were put in place.

“Saolta regret any distress that is being caused to the families involved and offers any services that they may require to support them in dealing with the issues that arise,” the statement reads.