Helpline set up after foetus misdiagnosis

THE HSE has set up an emergency helpline after receiving a significant number of calls from pregnant women, concerned they have been incorrectly told they miscarried.

The helpline, which is in place from 9am to 5pm, was established after it emerged staff at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda wrongly told one mother she lost her baby and needed an induced abortion.

The HSE has insisted the incident in July 2009, which was only prevented after new mother Melissa Redmond sought a second opinion from her GP on the eve of the procedure, was “extraordinarily rare”, and has been resolved by an internal hospital report.

The HSE said: “The HSE has recently appointed Michael Turner as the national clinical lead in obstetrics and gynaecology under the office of Dr Barry White, national director for quality and clinical care.”

The programme will seek to introduce standardised national guidelines in the country’s 19 maternity units and early pregnancy assessment units.

“There is a level of uncertainty in ultrasound scanning, especially in the early stages of a pregnancy. It is rare but situations can occur when a scan will suggest that the pregnancy is lost but subsequent scans may show a foetal heartbeat.

“Therefore repeat scanning is undertaken when appropriate,” the HSE added.

The HSE is facing mounting calls for an independent inquiry after the latest in a litany of failures at the scandal-hit hospital.

“This misdiagnosis has once again highlighted the issue of hospitals being under-resourced, both in terms of experienced staff and equipment,” warned Labour health spokesperson Jan O’Sullivan.

“While the internal report carried out by hospital management has clearly identified specific issues that must be addressed, I believe that given the seriousness associated with this particular case a thorough independent investigation by the Health Information Quality Authority (HIQA) must be done.

“This hospital has been the subject of several medical scandals in recent years and unless there is total accountability through an independent report pregnant women will not trust the service,” she said.

The scandal emerged yesterday after Melissa and Michael Redmond revealed the near miss for their baby, Michael junior, who was born in March.

Last July, Melissa was informed by the early pregnancy unit at the hospital that she had miscarried.

She was given an abortive drug to help her remove the dead foetus from her womb, but instead decided to seek a second opinion from her GP.

Within moments of her doctor performing the scan, it was confirmed the foetus was still alive.

The HSE’s own review of the situation called for a series of recommendations to be implemented to prevent a repeat occurrence.

They include:

* junior doctors must be trained in “correct methodology of scanning for early pregnancy” and be overseen by a consultant

* no patient should receive an abortive drug until a miscarriage has been confirmed by a qualified sonographer

Anyone with concerns over their own treatment has been asked to contact the HSE’s emergency helpline on 1800-200529.