A hospital consultant made a protected disclosure [1] to the Minister for Health in 2018 raising concerns about clinical genetic services at the National Maternity Hospital (NMH).
The disclosure was made shortly before a couple agreed to an abortion after their unborn child was mistakenly diagnosed with a genetic condition trisomy 18, or Edwards’ syndrome.
The couple claim they were told there was no hope for the baby after the first test and were not given the opportunity to discuss their case with a consultant clinical geneticist, who might have advised them to wait for the results of a second test.
The abortion took place in March 2019, before a more comprehensive test showed the baby was healthy.
The whistleblowing consultant raised concerns about the provision of clinical genetic services at the NMH in November 2018, after being informed of a proposal to outsource all genetic and laboratory services to Birmingham Women’s Hospital.
Meanwhile, the couple have personally written to Taoiseach Micheál Martin [2] outlining their distress that a review of the case is still unable to get under way.
They said they do not have full trust and confidence in the process and they feared they were being “kept in the dark” regarding critical, ongoing communications between the Department of Health and the hospital.