The plan to relocate the Rotunda maternity hospital to the site of Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown, Dublin, is based on “real patient safety reasons” but will be “some distance in the future” before it happens, the Department of Health has said.
The Oireachtas Health Committee held a meeting to discuss the new national maternity strategy on Wednesday, in advance of the expiration of the current document at the end of this year.
Politicians raised concerns about the impact of the recent decision by An Coimisiún Pleanála to deny planning permission for the Rotunda’s critical care wing, with the planning authority deciding it would have caused irreparable damage to the character of Parnell Square.
In 2015, the then government approved a co-location policy that would see the Rotunda being moved beside Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown. The An Coimisiún Pleanála decision referenced this policy.
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Tracey Conroy, assistant secretary for acute hospital oversight and performance at the Department of Health, said no funding had been spent since then specifically on the move of the Rotunda.
The first part of the relocation policy was the National Maternity Hospital, followed by Limerick, she said, and the Rotunda move was designed to be “some distance into the future. It’s down the line”.
“Priority is to deliver the critical care wing. We’re exploring all options in that regard. The department completely supported the development of the critical care wing,” she said.
“The current policy is co-location. There are very real patient safety reasons and rationale underpinning that policy. The model of stand-alone maternity hospitals is not the norm.”
David Cullinane, Sinn Féin’s health spokesman, described the plan to move the Rotunda as “wishy-washy” and “pie in the sky”.
“It’s not going to happen. Lets drive on with the development that needs to be done in the Rotunda. Babies will be 40 or 50 before we ever see the co-location,” he said.
The Rotunda is the busiest maternity hospital in the State, with 8,616 babies delivered last year, representing 39 per cent of all babies born in Dublin.
Speaking on Wednesday, Minister for Finance Jack Chambers said the planning authority’s decision reflected “the excessive and subjective nature” of the planning process.
Asked if Government policy on co-location had undermined the planning application for the critical care unit, Chambers said: “I think that’s why the national planning statement on infrastructure is really important, and giving clarity of direction is important.”
But he said “that wasn’t the only issue raised relating to the Rotunda”.
“There was obviously kind of a heritage context where certain individuals objected on the basis of particular concerns ... that should never supersede health infrastructure for women and babies.”
In the Oireachtas committee meeting, Dr Colm Henry, chief clinical officer of the Health Service Executive, said the Rotunda’s infrastructure was “not fit for purpose”.
“Those safety needs relate to the infrastructure, the proximity of beds, the shared wards. It’s a tribute and acknowledgment to staff that they’ve managed to keep such a high-quality service,” he added.
Henry said the demographics of maternity services has changed since the last strategy was formulated in 2016. Women are now older, have higher rates of co-morbidities, and there are more migrant women.
Migrants now account for between one in five and one in four new mothers, he said, and the “challenge going forward is how we address needs of population that are fundamentally different”.
The committee also heard the proportion of pregnant women with gestational diabetes is increasing. In 2014, it was between 4 and 5 per cent, but some clinics are now at 16 per cent.
