Hospital report calls for midwife/maternity unit

THE report into the death of baby Bronagh Livingstone late last year stresses that a midwifery-led maternity unit should be provided at Monaghan General Hospital, as recommended by a previous review group.

The baby’s mother arrived at the hospital last December in the late stages of labour, but was transferred to another hospital in Cavan because of a lack of maternity services. She gave birth en route to a premature baby girl, Bronagh, who died shortly afterwards.

The report, which was prepared by a former civil servant, Kevin Bonner, for the Minister for Health, says the provision of such a midwife/maternity unit would restore confidence to the community and boost staff morale enormously.

It says that similar units planned for both Drogheda and Cavan should be brought into operation as soon as possible so their operation could be evaluated before opening units in Dundalk and Monaghan.

Mr Bonner said there was a need for improved communications with community groups, who should be kept informed of developments and consulted in the future.

Minister for Health and Children, Micheál Martin, said he would accept the main recommendation of the report that Monaghan General Hospital should continue to play a vital role in the delivery of acute hospital services to the local community within the Cavan/Monaghan Hospital Group.

The Minister also accepted that additional services could be provided at the hospital to the benefit of the local community.

There is, the report states, “a great need for more consultation and involvement of staff in the management of the hospital and in the delivery of services.”

It says there is “a huge chasm of mistrust between the community that the hospital serves and the North Eastern Health Board”.

The report recommends that the hospital runner system should be re-established, so that a nurse or midwife is available for ambulance transfer in emergency cases.

It also states that “a flying squad, i.e. an expert multidisciplinary team” should be put in place.

Doctors and in particular consultants need more direct input into the organisation and management of the hospital, the report says.

“The Treatment Centre as it exists is totally inadequate and should be upgraded. It should be expanded and moved to a larger, more appropriate space,” the report also says.