Almost 100 women who have concerns over the care they received in Irish maternity units when delivering their babies are being offered meetings with medical specialists.
The meetings with an external obstetrician, midwife and, where necessary, paediatrician are being arranged as part of an overall review ordered in the wake of revelations about baby deaths at Portlaoise hospital.
This review involved an examination of the clinical charts of 102 cases where concerns were expressed, 90 per cent of which related to Portlaoise hospital. It was carried out by the lead obstetrician, director of midwifery and quality and safety manager at the hospital.
The review found 13 complaints required no further action and determined the remaining 99 women should be offered interviews, to be completed by the end of November. It is not clear whether these meetings could result in a fuller investigation of the cases.
Counselling
Patients have also been offered counselling services, according to Dublin Midlands Hospital Group, which is responsible for Portlaoise. The Portlaoise review is the second part of a process triggered by a wave of complaints made to the HSE in the wake of the RTÉ
Prime Time
programme on the baby deaths at Portlaoise, broadcast in January 2014.
The first part involved a clinical chart review of 28 cases by former master of the National Maternity Hospital, Dr Peter Boylan, and six obstetricians. Dr Boylan's team found nine of these cases should be referred for a full systems analysis review, involving a team from the hospital and other areas of the HSE.
The HSE says that a range of counselling and other supports have been put in place for families who requested these at a lengthy meeting with Minister for Health Leo Varadkar last May.
It also says two separate disciplinary processes arising from the damning Health Information and Quality Authority report into Portlaoise hospital, published earlier this year, are ongoing.
Disciplinary proceedings
One process is examining whether any clinical staff should face disciplinary proceedings. This is being carried out by
Gillian Duffy
, a senior nurse and midwife in the British national health service.
The other process is looking at whether managers in the HSE should also face disciplinary proceedings.
This process is being conducted by former NHS executives Peter Colclough and Sir Neil McKay and was originally expected to be completed within two to four weeks.
