Two years after the tragic death of Savita Halappanavar and her unborn child, a review of the hospital at the centre of her case has concluded there is still “room for improvement” in patient care.
Galway University Hospital became the focus of attention after October 28, 2012, when a raft of deficiencies were identified as leading to the death, by sepsis, of Mrs Halappanavar and the loss of her baby. Three separate reviews of that case, by the Health Service Executive (HSE), the Health Information Quality Authority (HIQA), and the official inquest, led to no fewer then 33 recommendations for the hospital to act on.
Now, following a fresh review by auditors Ernst & Young of the implementation of HIQA’s 15 recommendations, it has been revealed that, despite significant progress on some fronts, there are still areas of concern.
Specifically, the review criticised the “substandard” keeping of patient notes “across all grades of medical staff”, while, overall, it found that 2,000 hospital policies were outdated and in need of revision.
Commenting on the review published this week of the implementation of recommendations issued in the HIQA Report, Cora Sherlock of the Pro Life Campaign said that it was unacceptable that all of the recommendations have not been implemented.
Ms. Sherlock said: “It is unacceptable that only four of the recommendations issued have been fully implemented. If we are really concerned about women’s health, then we must insist that each recommendation is implemented to make our hospitals safer, not only in Galway but in every maternity hospital in the country.”
She continued: “Had the recommendations made following the death of Tania McCabe seven years ago been properly implemented, Savita Halappanavar might not have died. It is not a surprise that those who rallied in the streets using Savita’s death to push forward an abortion agenda are now nowhere to be seen. They can no longer pretend that abortion had anything to do with the death of Savita.”
“It is only now that it has been acknowledged the cause of Savita’s death was a case of medical mismanagement during sepsis. Unfortunately it is too little too late. If the focus had been on implementing proper guidelines rather than railroading through abortion legislation last year, pregnant women in Ireland and their unborn babies would be much better served.”
The Ernst & Young report came a day after the master of Dublin’s Rotunda maternity hospital complained of a similar failure to fully implement the Halappanavar recommendtations at that hospital.
Dr Sam Coulter Smith said that “despite representations to the HSE and to the Department of Health, little has been done in relation to making any progress in improving infrastructure, services or staffing levels in the maternity sector”.