Midwife says inquiry committee is biased

A HOME birth midwife has accused a fitness to practise committee of An Bord Altranais (the Irish Nursing Board) of objective bias in its conduct of an inquiry into allegations of professional misconduct against her.

Ann Ó Ceallaigh, of Temple Crescent, Blackrock, Co Dublin, claims Pauline Treanor, general manager of Dublin’s Rotunda Hospital and chairwoman of the fitness to practise committee, should withdraw from the inquiry.

It is alleged that Ms Treanor, formerly a director of nursing and midwifery at the Rotunda, has a conflict of interest because a key expert midwife witness to the inquiry, Fiona Hanrahan, is also an assistant director of nursing and midwifery at the Rotunda.

Frank Callanan, for Ms Ó Ceallaigh, said yesterday his client believed it would be logical for Ms Treanor to prefer the evidence of Ms Hanrahan over the evidence of Ms Ó Ceallaigh’s experts, who were from outside the country.

Lawyers for Ms Ó Ceallaigh had asked Ms Treanor to withdraw from the inquiry on its fourth day at hearing.

Following a consideration of their application on June 11th last, the four other members of the fitness to practise committee refused the application after finding no evidence of objective bias on the part of Ms Treanor, who did not participate in making this decision.

Ms Ó Ceallaigh brought a judicial review challenge to that refusal and the hearing opened before Mr Justice John Hedigan yesterday. She is seeking orders restraining the committee as constituted from hearing the inquiry.

The respondents, including the committee and the chief executive of An Bord Altranais, reject the claims of objective bias and deny any conflict of interest. They also deny breach of fair procedures or natural and constitutional justice in allowing the inquiry to proceed under the existing fitness to practise committee.

The inquiry has been on hold since the challenge was initiated last July. Ms Ó Ceallaigh has also agreed not to practise for the present. The court heard the inquiry relates to 19 allegations of professional misconduct relating to Ms Ó Ceallaigh’s engagement to a woman (whose identity cannot be disclosed) between November 2006 and April 2007.

The proceedings come seven years after Ms Ó Ceallaigh settled a lengthy legal battle against the board over a decision to place restrictions on her practice despite a finding she was not guilty of misconduct relating to earlier allegations. No restrictions were placed following the settlement.

Ms Ó Ceallaigh had consistently claimed it was the practice of domiciliary midwifery that was really on trial in that inquiry.