SHOCKING STORY OF BABY MISDIAGNOSIS REQUIRES INDEPENDENT ENQUIRY
Issued : Wednesday 9 June, 2010
Labour Deputy & Party Spokesperson on Health has called for the Health Information Quality Authority ( HIQA) to carry out an immediate investigation as to how such a dreadful diagnosis was given to a pregnant woman which could have resulted in the death of her baby.
I want to commend the mother in question for publicising her horrendous experience at the treatment she received from Our Lady of Lourdes hospital. It is absolutely incredible to think that in this day and age patients are still encountering such incidents. This misdiagnosis has once again highlighted the issue of hospitals being under resourced both in terms of experienced staff and equipment.
The absence of guidelines for the successful operation of scanners and related medical equipment and the unavailability of key experienced medical staff highlights the seriousness of the problems with the management of this hospital.
While the internal report carried out by hospital management has clearly identified specific issues that must be addressed I believe that given the seriousness associated with this particular case a thorough independent investigation by HIQA must now be done.
This hospital has been the subject of several medical scandals in recent years and unless there is total accountability through an independent report and a recognition by the Minister for Health that hospitals including Our Lady of Lourdes must be given the resources to replace outdated equipment, pregnant women will not trust the service.
The Minister for Health Mary Harney T.D. has continually tried to hide herself behind a bureaucratic HSE from these ongoing scandals within our health service. The Minister must now accept that it is her stewardship as Minister for Health that has compounded the ongoing deterioration of our health service through an ill conceived privatisation programme while our public hospitals struggle to cope with increased demands from the public.
