Ireland is ‘behind the curve’ on patient safety

Roisín and Mark Molloy, who fought for years to have their son’s death properly investigated, hope that new patient safety measures will mean no one else has to take on the health system on their own.

The death of their son Mark, minutes after he had been born in the Midlands Regional Hospital in Portlaoise in January 2012, was the catalyst for a wider investigation into a series of baby deaths in the hospital’s maternity unit.

Immediately after their child died, the Molloys wrote to management at the hospital outlining their concerns. Ignored, they sent a succession of warnings for two years to every level of the HSE and Department of Health outlining their concerns for the safety of other children following their son’s death.