Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to address the House on this matter. I want to begin by recognising the courage and fortitude of the patients and families who shared their stories. I want to thank them for bringing their experiences into the public domain. I hope the publication of this report brings them some small comfort. They have provided us with the opportunity to learn from the past and put things right for the future. This time I want to ensure the opportunity will not be missed.

Many aspects of the HIQA report disturb me. I am appalled that patients in the hour of their greatest need were not treated with respect, care and compassion. Patients and families were treated dreadfully and, at times, inhumanely. It is not all about resources. It costs nothing to care. Honesty costs nothing, neither does compassion. These patients and families needed to be supported. They needed to know that they mattered. They needed comfort. Instead, they got the cold shoulder. That to me is very unacceptable.

The fact that at HSE corporate level, patient safety and quality was not given the highest priority is also concerning. Patient safety and quality must be core to all we are and all we do. The report highlights an urgent need to embed a patient safety culture right through the health service. I accept the HIQA report in full and thank the investigation team for its work. The four recommendations made to my Department will be implemented. The HSE has confirmed that it too will implement the four recommendations made to it. I expect the HSE to implement an action plan to address the findings of the report without delay, certainly by the end of the year.

Improvements have been and will continue to be made at the hospital. New management and governance structures, both clinical and operational, are in place, including a new hospital manager and a director of midwifery for the first time, as well as an on-site risk manager. Since I have come into office, my priority has been to strengthen the hospital and address ongoing patient safety issues.

Appointments have been made to key posts in both the maternity and general services. This includes additional consultants in anaesthetics, surgery, emergency medicine, paediatrics and obstetrics. Up to 16 additional midwives have been appointed and approval has been given for further midwifery posts to include shift leaders and posts in diabetics and ultra-sonography. An ambulance bypass protocol is in place for serious paediatric cases.

Structural change has begun with Portlaoise now forming part of the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group. Any change to services in the hospital will be undertaken in a planned and orderly manner. This will take account of existing patient flows, demands in other hospitals and the need to develop particular services at Portlaoise in the context of overall service reorganisation within the group. Services that are viable will be safety-assured and adequately resourced. We will need to make sure services currently provided by the hospital that are not viable, due to insufficient case load or inability to recruit senior staff, are discontinued. Governance of the maternity service will transfer to the Coombe in line with the memorandum of understanding agreed already. I will also implement a national women and infants health programme modelled on the successful national cancer care programme, NCCP, to modernise our maternity services.

I will do everything in my power to ensure the recommendations in this report are implemented without delay. While we cannot undo the loss that patients and families have suffered, we can ensure lessons are learned and health services improved for all of us.

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