20 weeks date for ante-natal appointments

Women attending the maternity unit at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda have to wait until the start of the fifth month…

Women attending the maternity unit at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda have to wait until the start of the fifth month of pregnancy before seeing an obstetrician due to increased pressure on services.

The Health Service Executive (HSE) confirmed last night that it could be the 20th week of pregnancy in some cases before a mother-to-be secured an ante-natal appointment to the hospital.

Obstetricians prefer women to present for their first appointment at 12 to 14 weeks of pregnancy and on its website the Rotunda hospital in Dublin says that ideally the first ante-natal appointment should be at this stage.

News of the delays comes after The Irish Times revealed a high powered HSE-appointed taskforce has expressed serious concerns about the critical midwife staffing level at the hospital which has seen a 90 per cent increase in births since 1999.

READ MORE

Last night Louth Fine Gael TD Fergus O'Dowd said he will raise the matter in the Dáil today.

He said there had been "systemic neglect" of hospitals in the northeast, with no investment in Drogheda, Navan, Dundalk or Cavan for some years.

Referring to a claim yesterday by HSE chief executive Brendan Drumm that the HSE has met its budgets for two years in a row, Mr O'Dowd said: "This is an example of 'bean counters' taking over the role of managing the health service."

A spokeswoman for the HSE said last night the maternity unit in Drogheda was facing pressures due to a combination of staffing issues and a major increase in the number of births in the catchment area.

In a statement it said: "There is no change in policy at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in relation to ante-natal appointments. However, the ante-natal outpatient clinics are under pressure and therefore this can result in women having to wait a number of weeks for an appointment."

In a separate statement yesterday the HSE said it was taking very seriously the concerns raised by Patrick Kinder, the chairman of the Maternity Services Task Force for the northeast in a letter to the HSE National Hospitals Office last October.

It said approval had been received for the appointment of 22 new midwife posts at the hospital and for the recruitment of three new consultant anaesthetist positions and two specialist nurse posts.

The letter - obtained by Mr O'Dowd - said there was an "urgent need to review staffing and accommodation requirements" in the maternity unit at the hospital.