Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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417. To ask the Minister for Health the reason for the lack of reports from the National Maternity Hospital and the Rotunda Hospital, given the recommendation by the Health Information and Quality Authority following its investigation of Portlaoise hospital that monthly safety statements be published by each of the maternity hospitals; if he will require all maternity hospitals to publish reports; if not, the reason; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18211/16]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Among the recommendations arising from the Chief Medical Officer's "HSE Midland Regional Hospital, Portlaoise Perinatal Deaths, Report to the Minister for Health" of February 2014, and the Health Information and Quality Authority's "Report of the investigation into the safety, quality and standards of services provided by the Health Service Executive to patients in the Midland Regional Hospital, Portlaoise" of May 2015, was that the HSE put in place arrangements for the publication of a full Maternity Patient Safety Statement (MPSS) for each maternity service. This commenced in December 2015.

The Maternity Patient Safety Statements provide individual institutions with a set of basic measures that can help inform assurances around the safety and quality of maternity services. They are a welcome addition to our patient safety assurance systems and the Department commends the participation of the maternity services in this regard. The Department expects that each individual maternity hospital will make arrangements to publish a full Maternity Patient Safety Statement on their websites and it is my understanding that full reports have been produced by all 19 maternity services for the month of March. Maternity Patient Safety Statements for the month of April are due to be published shortly.