Madam, – I refer to your account of the death of a new-born infant in the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin (Home News, November 27th).
I can only echo the sympathy expressed by the coroner to the parents and I also sympathise with all the medical staff involved in this case.
But from reading your report, it is clear that there were unacceptable delays in this case due to the overcrowding of the hospital delivery service. As a member of the board of governors, I have urged in vain that the hospital should not accept more patients than it can safely cater for. The present policy of admitting all comers inevitably leads to the situation you describe.
As a private hospital, the Rotunda is not obliged to admit more patients than can be catered for in its delivery suites. – Yours, etc,