Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I was deeply concerned to learn at the weekend of plans to merge the midwifery-led unit in Cavan General Hospital with the consultancy led services there. I have been reliably informed that the unit has been closed to anyone who wished to book this facility from 1 June 2020. While women who were booked prior to that date will be facilitated, anybody attempting to make a booking after that date has been told to make alternative arrangements. It is unclear as to why this decision was taken and if there was any prior discussion within the hospital, the hospital group or the HSE.

I know there was no consultation locally with women in the area, midwives, or the representative organisations - the INMO or the Midwives Association of Ireland.

I thank the Minister for his prompt response to my letter of representation on this issue and welcome the fact that he and his Department do not support any decision to downgrade or close the MLU in Cavan. If this unit is closed, it will have a critical impact on the well-being of pregnant women and Cavan and Monaghan, and indeed much further afield, as many women choose to travel to Cavan to have their babies in the MLU. The loss or downgrading of this essential service will severely limit the choices for women in pregnancy care. Those very limits were the reason for the development of the national maternity strategy in the first place. The strategy, which was launched in January 2016, clearly advocates the expansion of MLUs, not their closure. The plan to close the unit is totally contrary to the strategy and it is a retrograde step. Consultant-led care is more costly and less effective for low risk women. The situation in the North is different. Eight MLUs are in operation across the Six Counties, with plans in place for the provision of additional units. That is an average of more than one unit per county. By contrast, we have two in the South, with one in Cavan and one in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Louth.

This is not the first time that the Cavan unit has been threatened with closure. In 2011, there were plans in place to close the unit as part of a so-called cost-cutting measure. Will the Minister please clarify the position regarding the MLU in Cavan? What is the reason that bookings for the Cavan MLU have been stopped from 1 June onwards? Why was there no consultation with women locally? Will the Minister give assurances to not only keep the MLU open in Cavan but to adequately ensure its promotion going forward, particularly as the level of support that Cavan has received is considerably less than the MLU in Drogheda? The national maternity strategy needs to be rolled out and a cornerstone of that is to increase the number of MLUs operating in the State. That needs to be a priority for any future Government, particularly since many highly experienced Irish midwives have been forced to emigrate. Now is the time to bring them home and enhance maternity services in Ireland for all expectant mothers.

I also have a question on cervical smear testing. Ms Naomi Thornton Ryan has started a petition to request an immediate reinstatement of this testing. She has no way of getting the petition to the Minister and so asked us to raise this with him today, to seek a commitment to reinstate cervical cancer screening as soon as possible on her behalf and the 31,000 other people who have signed the petition.

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