Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I would like to propose an amendment to the Order of Business, the wording of which I will deal with towards the end of my contribution. It will involve the Minister of Health coming to the House.

The Leader may remember that we on this side of the House raised on the Adjournment last February our concerns about speculation and rumours that a report was being circulated privately within the HSE on the dismantling of maternity services in the HSE west and north-west hospital group area. I had information that a consultancy firm, Health Partnership, had prepared such a report for the HSE. I expressed my concern about the options considered, including the closure of a number of maternity units led by obstetricians throughout the country. The Minister, Deputy Reilly, and I had a robust exchange in which he wanted to talk about the past but I wanted to discuss services in the future.
It has taken me some time to secure a copy of the Health Partnership report, marked "Strictly confidential," which is in the hands of the HSE. What does it propose? It proposes to dismantle obstetric-led maternity services in the HSE west and north-west hospital group. Yesterday, when the Taoiseach was in Sligo, he vowed there was no threat whatsoever to services, that all of these things would be decided in the future and there was nothing to worry about. The people of Roscommon, Sligo and other counties know only too well that such a word is not so good. One can understand the concerns of people in that area when the Taoiseach and others, including Tony Canavan, the chief operating officer of the Galway and Roscommon University Hospital Group, say that all these things are a matter for consideration and that no decisions have been made. In the discussion on the Adjournment on 19 February 2014, the Minister said that when considering this issue the Government would have regard to national and not local concerns. That was a bit different from the Taoiseach's rhetoric on the news yesterday and Mr. Canavan's remarks today as reported in The Irish Times.Senator Mullins in particular would be interested to know that when asked about the existence of a report on 19 February, the HSE initially said that it did not exist, but later on the same morning it confirmed to a news agency that it did exist.
The report states:

Option 4: Galway main hub
- retain one satellite at Letterkenny
- close the units at Portiuncula
- close Mayo General Hospital
- close Sligo General Hospital
- merge with Galway and others (Mullingar and Portlaoise)
... Develop standalone midwife-led antenatal and postnatal clinics on hospital campuses.

What that means is that a midwife will look after the care of the woman in labour, and God knows, there are no better people who are more capable of doing an exceptionally good job in that regard. It is fine until something goes wrong. Let me give the example of my sister-in-law, who was in labour but in a matter of minutes needed a caesarean section. What is the plan for Sligo when that happens to the pregnant mother in a delivery suite? Will an air ambulance swoop in, or will we use "Star Trek" technology to beam her to a centre, according to this proposal, in either Letterkenny or Galway? That would be comforting for somebody in Gurteen, County Sligo, or in Glencolmcille.
Option 5 considers no satellites at all - just a centre in Galway and midwife-led services throughout the country. I reiterate our belief and confidence in midwifery in this country, but the people of the west and north-west hospital group area have an entitlement to safe services equivalent to those available in other parts of the country. They are entitled to consultant-obstetrician-led services.
It is reprehensible discrimination for the Government to be considering this, and also to be so cynical as to try to keep this report secret until after the election on Friday week. We will have a vote today and we will see if the Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly, wants to debate the report that does not exist. Senator Mullins was on radio yesterday saying there was nothing to worry about, but the report suggests that we close the maternity services at Portiuncula Hospital and Sligo Regional Hospital. Let us have a debate on the proposed closure of these maternity services.