Savita Halappanavar ward to get bereavement room

New facilities for women who suffer loss in pregnancy are to be provided on the ward where Savita Halappanavar stayed before her death in University Hospital Galway (UHG).

A single en suite room is to be built on St Monica’s Ward, which will be used for the care of women experiencing pregnancy loss and also for gynaecological patients who are approaching the end of their life.

The work is one of nine projects being funded under the Design & Dignity scheme supported by the Irish Hospice Foundation and the Health Service Executive. Some €500,000 is being spent on transforming older or dated hospital spaces through the provision of family rooms, gardens, mortuaries and other facilities.

Grant allocations

Following Ms Halappanavar’s death at the hospital in October 2012, UHG agreed to implement a number of actions, including improvements to facilities available to women experiencing loss in pregnancy.

Other recipients of grants under the scheme include Portiuncula Hospital in Ballinasloe, Roscommon Hospital, Ennis Hospital, St John's Hospital in Limerick and Kerry General Hospital.

In Dublin, grants were allocated to St James’s, Beaumont and the Mater hospitals.