Misdiagnosis tragedy could happen in Tipp
Issued : Tuesday 15 June, 2010
Labour Senator Phil Prendergast has warned that the misdiagnosis of miscarriage given to women around the country serves as a warning against any plans to downgrade or remove maternity services at South Tipperary General Hospital.
"I can only imagine the horror these women and their families went through when first told the baby had miscarried only to learn later that the diagnosis was wrong.
"The even greater tragedy is that some women may have followed the medical advice they received and terminated viable pregnancies.
"Incidents such as this are further proof that the best possible maternity services are those provided locally.
"The misdiagnoses first emerged at Our Lady’s in Drogheda, This hospital absorbed many of the services - including maternity - previously based at Monaghan General.
"And yet again we discover that like many other specialities in the North East, services got worse as a consequence of the move.
"The argument for centralising services is based mainly on the belief that the more patients going through a hospital the better the treatment.
"But research in the UK has shown this not to be the case in most medical specialities and many services are now being decentralised again.
"This latest scandal at Drogheda should serve as another warning to the HSE that its reconfiguration programmes are not working and are endangering patients.
"It is currently trying to downgrade STGH by stealth. The evidence suggests that this will inevitably lead to a tragedy.
