There have been further calls for the HSE to provide ‘concrete data’ backing up its decision to move ‘higher risk’ pregnancies out of Portiuncula.

In July, the HSE announced that expectant mothers with high-risk pregnancies would be transferred to UHG or to another hospital of their choice for care amid safety concerns over the care at the Ballinasloe hospital.

However, local Councillor Evelyn Parsons (Ind) has said the HSE has repeatedly refused to release the ‘clinical evidence’ to back up their claims that this decision would improve the safety of mothers who must cross Galway City to access care in an already over-stretched UHG.

“When it is determined that there is a risk, you have to do a risk assessment – it’s a requirement, as far as I’m concerned.

“If you are going to downgrade services in one hospital – and a service as critical as a maternity unit that serves women in eight counties – there should be good evidence and medical grounding that can be provided to the public for scrutiny,” said Cllr Parsons, who is a GP.

The Independent councillor has requested that the written reports that led to the decision be published, and that the minutes of any meetings held to discuss the downgrading of services be made public.

“I think we can accept facts. If you have the facts, you can decide if there are issues that can be addressed through additional resourcing and funding – or we can accept that the safety of women is paramount and this is the only option,” she added.

Cllr Parsons called for risk assessments to be published at the most recent meeting of Regional Health Forum West but was told by Integrated Health Area Manager, Ann Cosgrove, that the type of assessment she was looking for would not be provided.

The Women’s and Children’s Network was provided with all relevant data from the maternity unit at regular intervals, said Ms Cosgrove, and when ‘outliers’ emerged, they acted very quickly to implement the changes at Portiuncula.

“You don’t publish a risk assessment – the risk assessment isn’t a piece of paper on a given day. It is a continuous looking at trends,” said Ms Cosgrove.

Cllr Parsons asked if that data was available for scrutiny and Ms Cosgrove replied: “No, it’s not. It’s not a neat piece of paper.”

Cllr Parsons said this week that despite their assertions, she believed the HSE had a duty to provide evidence that it had examined the full impact on the women affected by their decision – and on the facilities they would be attending.

“What the HSE have said is that those women can go to a unit of their choice – have these other units been resourced to deal with this? Do they know where all the women are going? Have they checked if units in UHG and elsewhere have the capacity to deal with this? This is especially important as these are high-risk pregnancies,” she said.

Equity of access to care had to be considered, too, continued Cllr Parsons.

“One of the key tenets to SláinteCare is that care should be delivered close to home,” she said, referring to the national plan to reform the healthcare system.

“Women locally in Ballinasloe and across eight counties are having to pass a hospital, located 800m metres off a motorway, to travel into UHG. It does not appear that rural equity was considered in this decision,” said Cllr Parsons.

The HSE has asserted that its decision to transfer higher risk pregnancies out of Portiuncula was based on clinical evidence and that “it is the right decision in the interest of mothers and babies”.

Pictured: Call…Cllr Evelyn Parsons at Portiuncula Hospital. Photo: Gerry Stronge.