Health campaigner backs commission of investigation into hospital baby deaths 

He was one of five babies who died in the Portlaoise baby deaths scandal, which broke in 2014, and which centred around deaths between 2006 and 2012.

They and other parents lobbied for a variety of changes that led to Ireland’s first National Maternity Strategy.

The Irish Examiner has, however, discovered there have been multiple more potentially avoidable baby deaths and injuries in maternity units around the country since 2013.

There have also since been repeated apologies and pay-outs by hospitals for mistakes that they have admitted have been made in cases where babies either died or were injured.

An Irish Examiner survey in December of mostly coroner’s court reports shows there have been at least 42 potentially avoidable hospital baby deaths between 2013 and 2022.

Safer Births Ireland, run by two women whose babies died after being born in Portlaoise Hospital after 2013, is behind a national campaign for a Commission of Investigation.

They have around 20 grieving mothers backing the campaign for the commission of investigation, and Mrs Molloy is the latest to back it.

She said: “We have spent 10 years advocating for improved governance, performance and accountability across the health service.

“This was to secure medical and management accountability for failings, in particular, where the risk of recurrence of predictable and preventable deaths and injuries is high.

“But we’ve no legislation to hold HSE management to account.

There is no forum, independent of the HSE, to act as a regulator for HSE management.

“Medical and nursing staff can be held to account by their professional regulating bodies.

“However, there is no such body to hold management to account."

She said it is impossible to get "a complete picture" of what has happened due to this.

Meanwhile, former Minister of Justice Frances Fitzgerald - who is promoting women's rights at European Parliament level - has said the Department of Health should look back over hospital mother and baby deaths and injuries.

Speaking in Strasbourg, she told the Irish Examiner: “A mechanism should be found to collate the data, to investigate, to make sure that if there are reasons that have not yet been identified, they are identified.

“If there's practice changes that are needed, if there's more education, if there's OPD (Outpatient Department) attendances that need to be more rigorous.

“I'm sure there's a lot of lessons that can be learned from those experiences.” 

Referencing the Portlaoise baby scandal, she added: “We've had Portlaoise. We've had other instances (and) I've met some of the women here (in the European Parliament), and it's totally traumatic.

So we do need to get as good information as we can, on the cases where there are not yet answers.

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has been asked if he will conduct a look-back review over deaths identified by the Irish Examiner.

While one has not been announced, he has said he has asked HSE officials to meet with Safer Births Ireland to discuss their issues, which include avoidable hospital baby deaths.

That meeting is due to take place next month.