Concerns over safety of patients at Portlaoise hospital

Latest revelations about patient safety at Portlaoise Hospital raise serious questions for the Government, according to Fianna Fáil health spokesman Billy Kelleher.

“We cannot be expected to wait any longer to get to the bottom of the tragic deaths of five babies at Portlaoise and to get answers about the wider safety concerns at the hospital,” Mr Kelleher said.

He was commenting on newspaper articles in relation to the draft report by the health regulator, which is expected to be published this month.

“At the moment we are being subjected to a drip-feed of information revealing a litany of failures that raise extremely serious questions for government and health-service management at the highest level,” Mr Kelleher said.

According to the draft report, the Government ignored alarm bells about safety risks at Portlaoise Hospital; it failed to give the hospital resources to safely operate 24-hour critical care services; and went against best practice recommendations for political reasons.

“If this is the case — that the Government and health-service managers knew that these services could not be run to a safe standard and just turned a blind eye to the situation — it is extremely serious,” he said.

“There can be no more attempts to push this further down the road and avoid responsibility for the dangers at Portlaoise Hospital.

“It is time the Government stopped putting politics before people and started acting in the best interests of patients at Portlaoise.”

The latest revelations about patient safety at Portlaoise Hospital raise very serious questions for the Government ..http://t.co/j28UJwt015

— Fianna Fáil (@fiannafailparty) April 7, 2015

The draft report, compiled last year, says that, at national level, HSE managers were predominantly focused on budgets; failed to maintain oversight of the hospital; and were unaware of what was happening until news of baby deaths broke last year.

Health Minister Leo Varadkar said yesterday that, rather than wait for the report to be published, work had continued to strengthen services in Portlaoise from a patient safety and quality perspective.

The hospital is being supporting to develop and enhance its management, Mr Varadkar said. There have also been changes in governance and management structures since the publication of the chief medical officer’s report in February last year.

A new hospital manager now reports directly to the chief executive of the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group.

A director of midwifery has been seconded from the Coombe Women’s Hospital and an additional consultant obstetrician and 10 extra full-time midwives were recruited. A quality and safety manager was also appointed.

A new governance model will provide a single maternity service to operate over the Coombe and Portlaoise. It will serve as a model for other hospital groups.

Mr Varadkar also pointed out that additional resources would be provided to the managed maternity network, including two extra obstetricians, one of whom will be the new clinical lead, two neonatologists to be shared across the sites, and some additional clinical and allied health support.

HSE national director Tony O’Brien told staff in a letter recently that many of the failings had been addressed and other changes are under way.

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