No plans to re-instate high-risk maternity cases at Portiuncula
External review team ‘winding down’
THERE are no plans to reinstate the high-risk maternity services at Portiuncula University Hospital (PUH) despite near full implementation of the recommendations from the external review committee.
The issue was raised at the September meeting of Regional Health Forum West, where Ballinasloe Cllr Dr Evelyn Francis Parsons sought clarity on “what stands in the way of restoring the services”.
In July last year, the HSE decided to move high-risk maternity services from PUH to Galway and other locations, following a series of external reviews into the maternity care, perinatal care and stillbirths at Portiuncula.
Cllr Parsons noted that 11 of the 12 external reviews into the care provided to women and their infants are now fully complete, with 78 recommendations made by the review team.
Out of the 78 recommendations, 98 per cent have been implemented and are showing a continued improvement in the services.
Cllr Parsons enquired about what “staffing, governance or infrastructure issues remain in the way” of reinstating the services.
She also raised concerns around the decrease in birth rates at PUH by 10 to 15 per cent and questioned where these women are now receiving care.
Integrated Health Area Manager for Galway and Roscommon Ann Cosgrove said that the two departments at Galway University Hospital and Portiuncula University Hospital are working closely but there are “no plans to reinstate the high-risk maternity services” at PUH.
She stressed that no increase in birth rates have been recorded in other areas, which might be “reflective of the birth numbers falling across the country”. Ms Cosgrove added that the external review team has already been reconfigured to some extent and would start unwinding at the end of this year.
Cllr Parsons argued that the women living in Galway City and the women living in rural parts of the county cannot be assessed on the same scale when it comes to availability of services.
She said that women living further away from the maternity facilities carry a great “geographical burden” and it is important to know how they are impacted by this.
“Safety is paramount, but I don’t think it can be divorced from access to care,” emphasised Cllr Parsons.
Fianna Fail Cllr Alan Harney pointed to significant changes made at PUH over the past year and said the number of bookings were beginning to recover, suggesting it was a sign of growing confidence among women seeking maternity care.
“Women are very clearly voting with their feet in terms of their choice and their options as to where they want to go to receive their maternity care,” commented Cllr Harney.