Michael Fitzmaurice presses on Port Yonkola maternity safety

First of all, Chair, I want to thank you for letting me in. I am not on the committee, so you are welcome. There were five cases in 24, and I think, as has been said earlier, I was mindful of the parents that have lost children, some of them close to me at home, and we have to be mindful of that, but it is about resolving a problem and going forward and making sure that it is safe, but to make sure that we get services back. There were five children for therapeutic hypothermia, basically, that go to Dublin. Have those children, is that a high percentage, or what is the percentage right around the country? What is the prognosis of those children? Have they met the milestones so far? In terms of the rate and the concern in Port Yonkola, they were at 3.82 per 1,000 births, against what would be expected on the international standard and the national rate of 1.24 per 1,000 births, so they are well outside the range. I am just asking the question, the other hospitals right around the country? I am comparing them to those, so Port Yonkola is at 3.82, and the other hospitals 1.24 per 1,000 births, and in terms of the outcomes, look, it is a small cohort of children, so I don't want to over get into identifying, and I know you are not asking that. Can I say to you that some of the outcomes have been catastrophic, and some will take time to understand, because the nature of the condition is that it can evolve over several years. OK. There has been a survey done, and I have read it in the last week, of patient satisfaction in Port Yonkola at the moment. Has Port Yonkola, in your view, turned a corner, and is it encouraging for you? As I remember, and you remember, a number of years ago, unfortunately, Port Lys was in difficulty, and one of the hospitals you were promoting, say, for certain cases would have been Port Lys over the last number of months, so obviously Port Lys going from where it was to where it is now has, you know, the services are there and it is capable of looking after people. Are ye, what was done in Port Lys, and are ye aiming to do the same in Bannon and Slow, in Port Yonkola? Yeah, so firstly, the issues and the time of the issues and what was known about safety indicators were very different in Port Lys. Port Lys has connections now, like the network I talked about earlier, to the CULM, and so on, so its context is very different. We are doing everything to support Port Yonkola that we are doing for every other site, I can absolutely assure you of that, there is no question of it. One of the recommendations, or there was a query about theatre and labour ward, my understanding is there are a lot of hospitals around the country in the same scenario as Port Yonkola, is that correct? With regard to theatre access? The theatre and the labour ward, say on different levels. Yes, that can, you know, infrastructure can be challenging in some units, but I suppose the infrastructure per se wasn't necessarily the issue, it was a multiplicity of factors in Port Yonkola. Yes, I understand that, but one of the things that was highlighted was the labour area and the theatre, they were on different levels, and what I am asking is that is replicated around the country. That can be in units. Why was it picked out there or not everywhere? I suppose in some of the particulars of the cases there was a delay in moving patients to have an emergency caesarean section. Okay. So that was one of the reasons. Is there, my understanding was, are you going to do an overall review of maternity services around Ireland? Yes, I agree. Before you come in, Deputy, what I was... Yes, sorry, I was... No, no, that's okay. But just before you come in, I was explaining that the maternity strategy concludes in 2026, and Minister Carol McNeill in the programme for Government is going to bring forward a new maternity strategy. To inform that strategy, she will be reviewing all of the 19 units across a whole range of considerations. And sorry, I did miss the point of your earlier question, I should have said so. The survey you referred to of patient experience is different to clinical outcomes. Yes, I know that. No, but can I say to you, can I say to you, I was delighted to see the outcome for Port Juncker, because I do know the quality of what people do there to care is very good. My time is up. Just one last thing, and I don't want to overburden the Chair. First of all, I want to wish you a look on your retirement, I think. Thanks, Deputy. What is the plan you talk about in 2026? Are you committed to bringing the services that Port Juncker has lost by putting in the resources and getting those services back to it? What is the plan going forward? Briefly. So the plan, as I've said, is were the conditions in 2025 not there, we wouldn't have made the decision. If those conditions changed in the future, we'd look at that decision. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. I'm happy to welcome. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President. Yes, I'm happy to be here. Thank you all, I'm happy to be here. Thank you very much. We are from the Chair and the Chair for the Community, but I'm happy to be here for the other issue.