Dr. Clíona Murphy:

We have had two meetings with the Department of Health. There were supposed to be three. They were short meetings limited to guidelines. Any questioning on implementation was not expanded on. There has been some work, I believe, from the HSE perspective on guidelines and the sexual health strategy has been active. Again, however, we are not all aware of what is being done in different areas. I believe the HSE is starting an implementation group and we are happy to contribute, but I am not sure how much mapping has been done to date. Groups are certainly active but joining it up is the key.

There are also some areas in hospitals where capacity might be harder and there might be different issues. Maternity hospitals have the issue of trying to be respectful to women in a labour ward. In one hospital, for example, it is necessary to walk through the labour ward to get to the theatre. That may not be appropriate for women in this situation. In other hospitals, there can be difficulties for clinicians even in trying to have gynaecology emergencies performed in a general hospital and Senator Colm Burke may know a little bit about that but-----