Unequivocal apology from HSE after deaths of babies

The HSE has apologised “unequivocally” for “serious shortcomings” in the deaths of four babies in six years at the Midlands Regional Hospital in Portlaoise.

An investigation by RTÉ’s Prime Time programme into the deaths of the babies raised serious questions over their treatment. Babies were alive at the onset of labour but died either during the labour or within seven days of birth.

Medical probes carried out into the deaths identified failures in the care provided by the hospital, including not acting upon the fact the babies were in foetal distress.

Recommendations made on the back of the probes were not acted upon. Furthermore, neither the hospital nor the HSE informed the families that an investigation had taken place into their case, or that a report had been completed until many months after the deaths, in one case five years.

In a statement last night, the HSE said it, along with the hospital, accepted “there were serious shortcomings in the cases”.

“There were unacceptable delays in completing reports, communicating with families, and in acting on recommendations.

“The HSE and the hospital apologises unequivocally to the families for these failings.”

Health Minister James Reilly has sought a report from his chief medical officer on the deaths, vowing that where anyone was found to be “utterly negligent” in the health service, they would be punished.

Patient advocacy organisation Patient Focus said it was working with a number of the families involved. It said it was alarming that the recommendations of several reviews seemed to have been ignored at the unit.

It demanded a wide-ranging independent investigation into the maternity care provided at the unit going back 10 years.

Speaking on RTÉ radio yesterday, Dr Reilly said he had asked Dr Ambrose McLoughlin, secretary general of his department, to ask chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan to compile a report following the Prime Time revelations.

“It won’t take long,” Dr Reilly said, adding that once he receives the report, he will take whatever actions are necessary to make sure what happened in Portlaoise wouldn’t happen again.

Dr Reilly said the revelations had left him with a “sense of great sadness” for the parents whose babies died.

“Childbirth should be a really joyous occasion,” he said.

Dr Reilly said every action would be taken to ensure openness in the health system and that where people were found to be “utterly negligent”, they would be punished.

Dr Philip Crowley, the HSE’s national director of quality and patient safety, acknowledged that not giving the report to families was “poor practice” but said the deaths were isolated incidents, and that they had looked at the maternity unit but found nothing unusual.