No Room at the Hospital

What sort of people are we? Not since Ann Lovett delivered her baby in a graveyard in Granard, almost twenty years ago, has something…

What sort of people are we? Not since Ann Lovett delivered her baby in a graveyard in Granard, almost twenty years ago, has something as shameful occurred. A pregnant woman in a state of emergency is driven by her partner and her sister to Monaghan General Hospital to be told by the porter that she should travel on to Cavan.

Her partner persists and she is allowed to enter. She is seen by a doctor and a nurse, given an injection to relax her, and bundled into an ambulance 20 minutes later. She is accompanied by two ambulance men. Her daughter is born prematurely, breathes on her own and cries all the way to Cavan General Hospital. And shortly after admission, she dies.

The premature death of baby Bronagh Livingstone, who was buried yesterday, is not the occasion to reel out the old political slogan that "health cuts hurt the old, the sick and the handicapped". It is very easy and cheap to blame the Minister, Mr Martin. The circumstances surrounding the medical treatment of this young mother during the premature birth of her child have a resonance beyond trendy politics. They raise questions more fundamental than whether maternity services should be retained in Monaghan General Hospital or any other.

In a society which professes to be "pro-life", the treatment meted out to Ms Denise Livingstone is an utterly shameful indictment of us all. It is unacceptable by any standards. A pregnant woman in trouble travels to her nearest hospital only to be sent packing on the road. It may well be said that she must have known that there were no maternity services in the hospital. But what of the ethos of the medical and nursing profession? Have we reached a situation where the system is more important than the patient? What of the long-accepted medical imperative of care and, where possible, cure?

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While changes are required to improve the health system, the manner in which they have been carried out by the North Eastern Health Board must raise serious questions. It has made a decision to concentrate medical services in Cavan-Monaghan in Cavan General Hospital. Whatever the economics behind that decision, who was prepared to take responsibility in an emergency, even if it meant violating procedures? The service for expectant mothers in an emergency situation in Co Monaghan, in particular, falls well short of what might be deemed acceptable. And the board's assurance to the Minister that "protocols" were put in place to deal with complicated deliveries simply does not stand up to scrutiny on the known facts of this case.

Where once there was no room at the inn, in 2002 there was no room at the hospital. We all share the blame for a culture that is afraid to take responsibility, make decisions, do the right thing, or step outside protocols. Bronagh Livingstone might have had a chance.