Public hospitals to feel pressure of extra deliveries

The closure of Mount Carmel private hospital will mean that on average the three public maternity hospitals in Dublin will have to deal with about 100 additional deliveries each month. This comes at a time when the masters of the Dublin maternity hospitals have warned that they were already facing serious pressures catering for the existing demand.

In his most recent clinical report, for 2012, the master of the Rotunda Hospital, Dr Sam Coulter Smith, said it had been the second busiest year in the history of the institution with just over 9,000 babies delivered. He said in one 24-hour period in December of that year there had been 42 babies born. He said that that level of activity was unsustainable.

Separately, the master of the National Maternity Hospital, Dr Rhona Mahony, has also in recent times warned of increasing pressures during an era of shrinking budgets and a moratorium on recruitment.

However, yesterday the Rotunda, the National Maternity Hospital and the Coombe Hospital all moved to reassure women that they would manage the challenges presented by the closure of Mount Carmel.

The National Maternity Hospital described the situation as “an emergency” but said it was not unanticipated. It said it had been in contact with senior doctors at Mount Carmel over recent months with regard to contingency plans if the facility closed.

In a statement last night Dr Coulter Smith said his hospital would be keen to assist in any way it can. “Pregnant women should not have to worry. The Rotunda Hospital, as a major maternity services provider, will manage the challenges with safety as a priority, as we have always done. If patients have a concern, they are welcome to contact us directly”.

Informed sources suggested that obstetricians at Mount Carmel with a public practice at the Coombe could move their private patients there while the National Maternity Hospital was looking at facilitating doctors in full-time private practice at Mount Carmel to treat patients.

Minister for Health James Reilly said that the additional pressure on the public system caused by the closure of the country's only private maternity unit would not be as great as some would have thought.

Birth rate
He said the birth rate was falling and the HSE had calculated there was sufficient capacity in Dublin without Mount Carmel to deal with the number of births.

It is understood the Department of Health maintained there were Central Statistics Office projections that the birth rate would continue to fall until at least the early 2020s. It claimed there had been 946 fewer births in the three Dublin maternity hospitals in the first 11 months of 2013 compared to the same period in 2012.

Dr Reilly said the Government had decided after extensively considering the issue not to buy Mount Carmel.

He said the Government would consider every possibility of bringing the skilled people who worked at Mount Carmel into the public system.

Philip McAnenly, industrial relations officer with the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, said despite Dr Reilly’s comments the reality was there was a recruitment embargo. Many staff only heard of the closure through media reports, he said.