Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Quinn for his report.

I want to ask Mr. Quinn a straight question: is a woman who goes into Portlaoise hospital tonight to have a baby safe and will her baby be safe? He stated that the "volume of critical care activity within the intensive care unit of the hospital" is low and that staff "who do not have the opportunity to treat sufficient numbers of patients or carry out a sufficient volume of procedures run the risk of becoming de-skilled". Is that problem still there if that woman needs to go into intensive care?

I am baffled as to what the senior hospital management committee was doing. Mr. Quinn stated that "the hospital was not governed, resourced or equipped to safely deliver" the level of clinical services. What kind of personnel were on that senior hospital management committee? Were there doctors or nurses? Who was on that committee? Mr. Quinn spoke of a patient safety tool but surely if they are trained medical staff they can report, or do we need to have whistleblowers in every hospital to ensure the right thing is done? I thought that was what would be done with the senior hospital management committee or with the doctors or the nurses who were working in that hospital.

I am really concerned that Mr. Quinn spoke about the "quality, safety and experience of patient care in Portlaoise hospital", but then stated, "It must also ensure that where similar risks and deficiencies exist in other hospitals, these are addressed as a matter of urgency". I understand HIQA is looking at the other 19 hospitals. Cavan is on our radar, but where else does a mother have to go to risk her baby's health and to risk her own life before HIQA is called in? All staff on the ground are being paid; why are they not doing their jobs?