Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising this very important issue. I know he has been a very strong advocate for maternity services right through the pandemic in consistently raising this issue.

Limitations on partners accessing maternity services have been an issue of huge concern for women and their families, and I fully appreciate that such access limitations were very difficult for everyone during the Covid-19 pandemic. In that regard, it is important to emphasise that all access restrictions that were introduced for support partners during the Covid-19 pandemic have now been removed. The HSE recently advised that access for support partners has been restored, including for antenatal appointments, routine scanning, labour, delivery and time spent on antenatal and postnatal wards.

The underlying aim throughout the pandemic was to keep maternity services as safe as possible, to support women throughout pregnancy and to ensure access for support partners. Maternity services were remarkably successful in protecting women and staff during the Covid-19 pandemic while remaining focused on maximising access for support partners. In that context, the clinical advice remains in respect of the potential for infection to spread in maternity services, and limited exceptions to partner access may be introduced at times based on local infection control and health and safety measures.

We are all aware of the variations that exist right across our maternity services, including the number of births, the complexity of care provided and, in particular, the infrastructure of each service. Those variables all feed into decisions that are made locally as regards infection prevention and control risks. Each maternity service must, on that basis, assess its own ability to accommodate access. For example, in light of the recent fire in Wexford General Hospital, while support partners can attend all antenatal appointments, they are requested to wait outside until their pregnant partner is called for her appointment.

The HSE fully recognises the important role that support partners play in supporting a person using maternity services, as well as the right of the support partner to be present and to participate in the care process to the greatest practical degree. It is, therefore, vital that, should any limitations on access for partners be introduced in a hospital for a specific reason, they should be the very minimum required. The HSE has advised maternity services of this and has stipulated that, when introduced, limitations must be clearly explained and applied with consideration for individual circumstances and needs.In all circumstances a person-centred approach should be adopted to ensure the context in which the need for a support person to be present is taken into consideration.

To conclude, I assure the House that any access limitations individual hospitals may implement from time to time are at the minimum necessary in terms of infection prevention and control. I reiterate that decisions to limit access are taken locally by clinicians and hospital management who know their own circumstances intimately and are best placed to respond to local developments. The HSE has assured the Department that every effort continues to be made to maximise access for support partners during their pregnant partner’s maternity care.