Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Offaly, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Colm Burke for giving me the opportunity to address the vital issue of the implementation of the report by the Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA, into the services being provided at the Midland Regional Hospital, Portlaoise. As the Senator will be aware, on Monday, HIQA published a review of the progress that has been made at the hospital in implementing the various recommendations made following the its investigation in 2015. This report was conducted following a request from the Department of Health. The Department has been overseeing the implementation of the recommendations in the original report to examine the progress that has been made at Midland Regional Hospital, Portlaoise. I very much welcome this report, which has found that additional funding and staff have been provided for the hospital and that significant progress has been made in respect of governance, patient safety and quality.

I wish to acknowledge the reason we have travelled this far. It is thanks to the bravery of the families who spoke out in the midst of their grief. I have met and spoken to some of these people. In particular, I commend the maternity services. The report has described the services as providing care in a much safer and sustainable manner.Portlaoise maternity services are reporting monthly maternity patient safety statements and are participating in national data collections, including the Irish maternity indicator system. This has led to a confirmation by HIQA that the hospital’s maternity services are performing in line with nationally reported rates.

The extent of progress in patient safety measures demonstrates the commitment of the staff and the leadership team at Portlaoise hospital and the team at hospital group level. Both the Department of Health and the HSE are committed to securing and developing the role of Portlaoise hospital within the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group.

The HIQA report also identified immediate issues to be addressed in general hospital services. The HSE has been asked to address these immediate issues as a priority, and to ensure that the hospital is appropriately supported in that role by the other hospitals in the group to serve the patients of the midlands. Hospital funding has increased by 15% since 2012 and staffing levels have increased by 18%. Additional funding is also to be provided to facilitate the opening of the new medical assessment unit in the hospital in 2017.

The hospital group has produced a draft action plan for the hospital which takes account of the need to develop services in the context of developing the model of service provision for the entire group. The HSE has submitted the draft plan to the Department where it will be reviewed in detail.

With regard to the question the Senator asked concerning the appointment of directors of midwifery, five such positions were in place at the time the recommendation was made and, to date, seven additional candidates have been selected. A series of recruitment competitions are continuing to appoint people to the remaining seven positions to ensure all our maternity hospitals have senior midwifery decision makers.

I am happy to share the Senator's concerns about qualification standards with the Minister.