Willie Penrose (Westmeath, Labour)
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Question 10: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children the action she intends to take arising from the report of the independent review into the circumstances of the death of Róisín Ruddle on 1 July 2003; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9418/05]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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The report of the panel established by the former Minister for Health and Children to carry out an independent review of the circumstances surrounding the death of Róisín Ruddle was submitted to me on 7 February 2005 and it was published on my Department's website on Thursday, 10 February.

The panel's principal finding was that if Róisín's operation had gone ahead as planned on 30 June 2003, the likelihood of her survival would have been greater, and that the fundamental reason behind the deferral of her surgery was the inability of Our Lady's Hospital to recruit-retain experienced specialist nursing staff.

I have already told the House that one of the recommendations of the report of the expert group on midwifery and children's nursing education, the introduction of a direct entry undergraduate programme for combined children's and general nursing, must be implemented. I have also stated that it will be necessary to reduce the length of the existing post-registration programme for qualification as a children's nurse. I will shortly be announcing how the report of the expert group on midwifery and children's nursing education can best be implemented.

I understand that a number of key recommendations in the report have already been acted upon by Our Lady's Hospital. These include the appointment of a clinical bed manager, the appointment of a full-time nurse manager to manage nursing recruitment and retention, and the establishment of links with similar institutions internationally. Some of the other recommendations, such as the recommendation that the hospital should consider ways to avoid patients having to undertake two journeys in quick succession — the first for pre-operative care and the second for the surgery itself — are currently being considered by the hospital. The hospital has told my Department it will be forwarding its official response to the report shortly.