John Higgins ready to deliver as first clinical director of maternity services at CUMH

Never one to baulk at a challenge, Professor John Higgins is relishing the prospect of his latest role — first clinical director of maternity services for a hospital group. He talks to Health Correspondent Catherine Shanahan about budgets, waiting lists, anomaly scans and why obstetricians do not need to be in the vanguard of debate on Repealing the Eighth

Seated in his office on the fifth floor of Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH), John Higgins is delighted to be returning to his definitive permanent post — UCC Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and consultant obstetrician at the maternity hospital he helped get off the ground. Back in the day, he provided the clinical leadership that led to the successful amalgamation of three maternity hospitals in Cork City.

He’s been busy since — Director for Reconfiguration of Acute Hospital Services in Cork and Kerry from 2009-2011, Head of the College of Medicine and Health at UCC for the last five years plus, a post he will today vacate.