Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Independent)

Incidents of this kind are distressing to the women and families involved and I again express my sincerest sympathies to all of those who were affected. They are serious incidents and are treated as such. A number of actions have been taken to support the safe management of early pregnancy loss across the country.

The chief medical officer of my Department and the director of quality and clinical care in the HSE wrote recently to all obstetric units advising them to ensure that the decision to use drugs or surgical intervention in these circumstances must be approved by a consultant obstetrician.

The HSE has now announced details of a miscarriage misdiagnosis review team and its terms of reference. The review team is being chaired by an independent expert in obstetrics and gynaecology, Professor William Ledger, vice president of the Royal College of Obstetrics in the UK who will be joined by Professor Michael Turner, national clinical lead of the HSE's obstetrics programme and Ms Sheila Sugrue, HSE national lead midwife. Service user representation in the management of this incident is being provided by Cathriona Molloy from Patient Focus. It is expected that the review will be completed within six months and the report will be published.

In addition, a clinical programme for obstetric care has been established by the HSE's national director of quality and clinical care. This will define best practice and standardise it throughout the country.

It is important that I put this in context. Ireland has, by international standards, a very high quality maternity service. Maternal mortality, perinatal mortality and infant mortality are all low by comparison to other jurisdictions. Women can be satisfied and confident as they come to use this service.

It is important to understand that the use of scans and other technology must be guided by expert clinical opinion based on careful clinical history and examination. Scans will not always be necessary or appropriate.

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