Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for Health for coming to the House. My motion is on the need for the Minister to outline what, if any, procedures are followed to prevent a consultant physician from practising unsupervised as a senior consultant in obstetrics or any other discipline when he or she has previously been at the centre of settled medical negligence allegations, albeit settled without admission of liability, and the reason a senior consultant in charge of a case, which resulted in the death of a person in Sligo, was permitted to practise unsupervised when he had been at the centre of previously settled medical negligence allegations in Limerick, again settled without admission of liability. What is the Government doing to prevent a repeat of such an occurrence? What are the initiatives the Government is taking to ensure that more qualified consultant obstetricians and consultants of all medical disciplines are available in the health service and that more senior Irish doctors and consultants are encouraged and attracted to practise in Ireland rather than overseas?

I am sure the Minister is aware of the case, highlighted recently in the media, of Sally Rowlette who sadly passed away in Sligo Regional Hospital and the earlier case of Dhara Kivlahan, which involved Sligo Regional Hospital, who died in Belfast. The consultant who could not be found for the recent inquest was, it appears, at the centre of an allegation in Limerick some years before. He had been practising in the area of paediatrics at the time. There was a settlement of quite an amount of money by the HSE, without admission of liability. How did that person end up as a senior consultant elsewhere? I am not saying that someone who has been at the centre of allegations to do with alleged negligence cannot, even if he or she was negligent, learn and improve. However, given all these cases settled without admission of guilt, have we a process of supervision, retraining and so on? It is a matter of real concern to me that this person ended up in Sligo and a lady lost her life as a result of it.

In the case of the death of Dhara Kivlahan, I understand there was a settlement, without admission of liability, between the consultant at the centre of that case and the Kivlahan family. I understand that this consultant obstetrician is currently practising in Clonmel. Are the people there informed of this? Has this consultant been practising under supervision since then? What procedures are in place? If, as I fear, there is not an adequate procedure in place, what are we going to do about it? This is a very serious issue.

While the Minister is present, I propose to make a specific, if slightly unrelated, point about mammography services at Sligo Regional Hospital. People in the north west are angry and disappointed at the Government for reneging yet again on a commitment, this time to reinstate mammography services at Sligo Regional Hospital. The previous Government mistakenly decided to wind down surgery at the hospital and the Government subsequently made a commitment to restore follow-up services to the hospital. Sadly, this has not occurred.