Investigation after leak of pregnancy termination details

Furious management at the country’s largest maternity hospital have begun an investigation into the leaking of details about a woman who underwent a termination of her pregnancy there.

Dr Peter Boylan, clinical director at the National Maternity Hospital, Holles Street, said he was outraged at the publicising of the case which was reported yesterday.

He said it was unacceptable and unethical and, if a doctor was found to be the source of the leak, the matter could end up in a Medical Council hearing.

According to The Irish Times, the unnamed woman was the first to be treated under the new abortion legislation contained in the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act passed last month.

It was reported there were parallels with the Savita Halappanavar case in that the woman, who was 18 weeks pregnant with twins, had developed symptoms of sepsis, leading to the heartbreaking decision to terminate her pregnancy.

However, the Department of Health stressed yesterday the Act was not yet law as no commencement order had been signed.

“There are operational issues which need to be addressed before it can be commenced,” the department said.

“These include the establishment of a panel of medical practitioners for the purpose of the formal medical review provisions and administrative facilities to enable the review committee, drawn from the review panel, to perform its functions.”

Dr Boylan refused to be drawn on the details of the case, insisting his chief concern was the breach of patient confidentiality.

“It’s absolutely unacceptable for patient details to be splashed around the front page of a newspaper and one of the first things I’ll be doing today, and we’ll do it next week as well, is investigating and seeing who is the source of this information.

“It’s completely unprofessional to give details of a patient which allows her to be identified.

“Can you imagine her distress to find that her details are spread across the front of a newspaper and being discussed in the news. It’s outrageous.”

The hospital would not comment yesterday on whether any complaint had been received from the woman or if there could be legal implications for the hospital which delivers almost 9,500 babies a year.

Neither would it comment on the apparent misunderstanding by an unnamed source quoted in the newspaper that the termination took place under the provisions of the new legislation.

The hospital made clear at Oireachtas committee hearings on the impending legislation earlier this year that it already acted to save women whose lives were at risk from the continuation of their pregnancy.

Master of the hospital Dr Rhona Mahony said at the time: “I want to leave the committee in no doubt of the following: we do not destroy or kill foetuses. We deliver them and on occasion delivery in order to save a woman’s life is required at gestation so early that very sadly foetal survival is not possible.”

She said such incidents were rare, occurring up to five times a year.