Camillus Glynn (Fianna Fail)

I have been in public life for a long time. I am a parent, a brother and, like all human beings, I have a mother. It was important this morning that all the parties represented in this House deferred to the ladies. This was done not because they are ladies or because it was mannerly, but because it was the right thing to do. Primarily, this issue concerns the mutilation of women. I particularly welcome the contributions of all the female Members, as well as those of other Members. I am delighted to defer to my colleague, Senator Feeney, with regard to this extremely important, yet heart-rending subject.

When history is written, if the novelist, Stephen King gets hold of something like this, he will produce another horror best seller.

I welcome the representatives of Patient Focus who are in the Visitors Gallery today. I well remember its contribution some years ago to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children. I stated recently in this Chamber, as I said on that occasion, that this was a script for a horror film. It is outrageous.

When we talk about professions, we talk about what is fundamental and essential to good practice. We are talking here today about what is fundamental to malpractice. A number of terms come into focus — abuse, betrayal of trust by a professional, audit, accountability by other members of that profession working alongside them and then the professional's accountability. None of those terms seems to have any kind of role in the matter that is under discussion here today.

Among my female relatives, I have two daughters. The womb is the cradle of life, the organ of the woman's reproductive system that bears the child. My heart goes out to these women today.

The three professionals who gave a report certainly did not do their profession any good. The women were denied what is held dear by every woman who enters into a relationship, namely, the right to bear children. That, in a willful and premeditated way, would appear to have been denied to them. That is the real tragedy of what is under discussion here today.

The profession involved is the loser. That the records were removed — we will not say lost — brings into focus another low. This entire saga, and the various chapters pertaining to it, is a race to the bottom for the people involved. I am perfectly familiar with Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital because, as a former member of the nursing profession, I supervised examinations for An Bord Altranais there. Little did I know at that time what was happening in the very place where young enthusiastic women and men — not so many men — were taking their examinations to enter a caring profession.

As Lord Acton warned, power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. I worked with many fine consultants over the years but there is a mindset among a certain number that they are omnipotent. It is the consultant and God, in that order. This is an opportunity missed on behalf of the three consultants who made the report. There was a prime opportunity of bringing audit and accountability centre stage. Regrettably, it was lost. One need not be a rocket scientist to say so. It is axiomatic that that would be the case.

On the 188 cases in the 25 year period from 1974 to 1998, the inquiry report describes the number of peripartum hysterectomies performed at Drogheda as "truly shocking". Of the 188 cases, 129 cases were attributed to Dr. Neary and nobody said anything. The rate of caesarean hysterectomies at the hospital for the relevant period was one for every 37 caesarean sections. In contrast, the rate at other hospitals of similar ethos ranged from one per 300 to one per 254 caesarean sections. Did the disparity have to jump up and bite somebody on the nose?

The report states that Dr. Neary's caesarean hysterectomy patients had a different profile compared with the rest of the unit. First, they were younger and were of a lower parity, that is, they had a lower number of pregnancies. Second, Dr. Neary's antenatal clinic included a higher proportion of problem pregnancies and a higher proportion of repeat sections than that of other consultants. The problem was as plain as the nose on one's face and yet nobody copped it.

It is stated that the number of caesarean hysterectomies carried out by Dr. Neary in 1978-79 caused the then matron some concern. Her concerns were ignored. No person raised any issues until October 1998 when two midwives who were consulting the health board solicitor on an unrelated matter sought his advice on serious concerns which one of the midwives had about Dr. Neary's practices — may God reward that woman.

Many reasons were advanced by management and staff on the failure to act. On the first, that they were not informed, there are none so deaf as those who will not hear. On the second, that all the hysterectomies were carried out for a very good reason, I wonder whether this is true. The third, that there was no audit, was addressed in one of my earlier remarks. On the fourth, that no one knew what was an acceptable rate, the people concerned must think we are all devoid of intelligence. Anybody with anything approaching a brain would know that what was going on was totally wrong.

The report states that a person or persons unidentified, who had knowledge of where records were stored and who had easy access to those records, was or were responsible for a deliberate, careful and systematic removal of key historical records which are missing, together with master cards and patient charts. No doubt somebody knows where these are; there are people in jail for much less. Words like "apology" and "sorry" are always too late after the event.

I understand that Patient Focus found its meeting with the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney, in the wake of the report of Judge Maureen Harding Clark — whom I commend in the strongest possible terms — to be very constructive. I would not expect anything less from the Tánaiste. I gather that the group is confident that the needs of all women in the group will be looked after. I certainly hope so. It is nothing less than they deserve.

I, again, congratulate Judge Harding Clark on her report which has been recognised as incisive and thorough. It is damning, shocking and horrendous. It is obvious from the findings that many lessons need to be learned and changes made to ensure that what took place in Drogheda can never happen again in any hospital.

I referred to my time in the psychiatric nursing service. I had to sign for every tablet I gave out and there was a nurse with me to ensure that that is what happened. If there was a person on a particular preparation, I ordered a week's supply and had that been exhausted after four days, one could be sure that questions would be asked. The first person who would ask where they were would be the nursing officer. When one would go down to the pharmacy, the pharmacist would say that a week's supply had been given and would ask where it was. As Senator Feeney and others stated, this beggars description. That this could have happened without anybody being bothered to question it, except one individual, is incomprehensible.

What happened in the hospital in Drogheda was horrific and heartbreaking. The report regards it as a story set in a time of unquestioning submission to religious and civil authority, when nurses and doctors were in abundant supply and permanent jobs were few and to be treasured. It is clear the hospital operated under a separate and unique set of rules and did not hold itself accountable to objective medical standards. That is a superfluous comment because everybody knows that. It is necessary to learn from and understand what happened in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital so hospital staff and obstetrics communities in all similar units never repeat these mistakes.

While the report acknowledges that no one died and that it is highly probable that some mothers' lives were saved when a hysterectomy was the only procedure to stop haemorrhaging, this does not diminish its impact. They were the exception, not the rule. The deafening silence on the issue was truly remarkable and, as the report highlights, few complained and none questioned: not the patients, their partners or their families; the obstetricians who worked in the maternity unity; the junior doctors; the post-membership registrars; the anaesthetists; the surgical nurses; the midwives, except one; the pathologists and technicians; the matrons, except one; the sisters of the Medical Missionaries of Mary; or any of the GPs whose patients attended the hospital. I am reminded of the film "The Big Sleep". This was inexplicable. No person or institution raised any concerns until October 1998 when two experienced midwives consulted the health board solicitor on an unrelated matter and one of them questioned what was going on. That was the launching pad for this report.

What was happening in Drogheda appeared to be normal and I find it hard to believe that, despite the contact between consultants on an ongoing professional basis, this never raised its head. There was a concerted and conscious effort to suppress what was happening in Drogheda. We recently passed the Health and Social Care Professionals Bill 2004. I am jealous of professional qualifications. They need to be protected and they should be accorded a uniqueness, authority and special place, but they are not omnipotent. Audit and accountability should be the norm. My heart goes out to the women who have been denied the opportunity to have children, particularly those who have none. May God forgive Dr. Neary for what he did because only He can.