The father of the woman who lost her premature baby last December when she was sent from Monaghan General Hospital to a hospital in Cavan in an advanced stage of labour is to meet the Minister for Health, Mr Martin, again next week.
Mr Jimmy Livingstone, whose family is considering legal action against the North Eastern Health Board, will meet Mr Martin on Wednesday.
An independent review of the care provided to his daughter, Ms Denise Livingstone, and the circumstances surrounding the death of her baby, Bronagh, concluded she should not have been transferred to Cavan Hospital. It said a team from Cavan Hospital or Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda should have been requested to travel to Monaghan as quickly as possible to attend to the 32-year-old woman from Emyvale.
The transfer to Cavan was effected as a result of the suspension, despite numerous protests, of maternity services at Monaghan hospital. Mr Livingstone met the Minister in December before the independent review group reported. "At that time he sort of hid behind the fact that the independent report wasn't in and he couldn't comment. Now that it has reported I want to see what he has to say," he said. In addition, Mr Livingstone said, he feared the report's recommendations weren't being implemented.
He added that Denise still hadn't returned to work. He said she and her partner, Mr Barry Kerr, had got engaged on St Valentine's weekend, and that had "lifted her a bit".