Portlaoise Hospital deaths report ‘a whitewash’

A Government report into the needless deaths of newborn babies at Portlaoise Hospital has been described as “reeking of whitewash” by a leading senator and doctor.

Prof John Crown made the claim at the latest Oireachtas health committee meeting, warning the alleged failure of the document to pay enough attention to serious staff shortages means little has been learned by the tragedies.

Health Minister Dr James Reilly, the Department of Health’s chief medical officer, Dr Tony Holohan, and the HSE’s deputy director general, Laverne McGuinness, strongly disputed the claim during yesterday’s four-hour meeting.