When it comes to maternity care in Ireland, the system has repeatedly failed families, painting a bleak picture of a healthcare service incapable of delivering the fundamental care every parent deserves. From Portiuncula University Hospital (PUH) to countless other facilities across the country, tragic stories of preventable harm have become alarmingly commonplace. Apologies and reviews may pacify momentarily, but they rarely translate into meaningful change.
A System Marked by Negligence
Pregnancy, often described as a time of joy and hope, has instead become a source of fear and devastation for many families. At PUH alone, nine families between 2023 and 2024 have affected by an external review into suspected incidents of substandard care. These include six cases of hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE), two stillbirths, and inadequate responses to critical scenarios during labour.
Shockingly, this isn’t the first time PUH has been criticised for its shortcomings. A 2018 investigation highlighted systemic issues dating back to 2008, including chronic understaffing, miscommunication, and insufficient training. Despite these findings, families continue to suffer similar tragedies—a clear indication that lessons haven’t been learned.
These events reverberate far beyond single institutions. Ireland’s national healthcare system appears paralysed by inefficiency, with investigations that marginalise affected families and systemic flaws that worsen inequality in care.
The Impersonal Apology Loop
Time and again, families like the Mulcair family—who lost baby Caoimhe to errors at Limerick’s Mid-Western Regional Hospital in 2009—encounter a familiar pattern. A tragedy occurs, an apology is issued years later, and the healthcare system offers platitudes rather than solutions. For Caoimhe’s parents, Joan and John Mulcair, the six-year delay in even receiving an explanation meant the HSE’s eventual apology felt hollow. Joan succinctly captured the inadequacy of these gestures when she called the apology
“meaningless.”
This issue is not limited to a single case; it reflects a broader systemic failing. Healthcare apologies often come grudgingly, following long and exhausting campaigns by grieving families. Take Rebecca Collins, for example. After her daughter Hannah’s stillbirth, Rebecca waited over a decade for answers. Her determination to pursue justice was sparked by watching another mother on Prime Time recount a story of medical negligence eerily similar to her own. Her persistence ultimately led to the HSE admitting liability—a bittersweet victory after 16 long years.
These stories also underscore a troubling pattern: systemic underreporting of incidents, leaving families to grieve in silence, with no explanations or accountability. Without answers, apologies—if they ever come—often feel like little more than empty words.
Shouldn’t families receive actionable solutions that prevent future tragedies rather than delayed confessions of past failures?
The Human and Financial Costs
Critics sometimes fixate on the rising economic cost of medical negligence claims. While it’s true that these cases strain public resources—in 2022 alone, medical negligence claims reached €500 million—it’s vital not to lose sight of the human toll.
For parents, legal action isn’t about money; it’s about accountability, transparency, and ensuring no other family endures a similar heartache. Parents like Shauna McNeill and Kevin Lee, who lost baby Kevin due to negligence at the National Maternity Hospital in 2019, seek more than financial settlements—they seek justice and systemic reform to prevent future tragedies.
Better handling of negligence incidents at the outset could mitigate both the emotional and economic costs. Families wouldn’t need to pursue gruelling legal battles, and the state itself could avoid the devastating inefficiencies of dragging these cases through courts over years.
Five Steps Towards Real Reform
If Ireland hopes to prevent further tragedies, immediate reforms are essential. Here are five actionable steps that could drive real change in maternity services nationwide:
1. Implementing Mandatory Open Disclosure Effectively
Families impacted by adverse events deserve transparency from the very beginning. With the introduction of mandatory open disclosure protocols in September 2024, it is crucial to ensure these measures are effectively implemented at every level. This will provide families with timely explanations, access to medical records, and clear communication about what occurred. Such transparency has the power to rebuild trust in maternity care services.
2. Independent Oversight of Maternity Services
Incidents at hospitals like PUH underscore the urgent need for independent reviews of critical events. Oversight by external, politically neutral bodies is essential for identifying systemic issues and delivering impartial solutions. These reviews must also prioritise meaningful family involvement, embodying the principles of mandatory open disclosure.
3. Invest in Early Training
A lack of adequate training and communication is often at the heart of Irish maternity care failures. Hospitals must prioritise simulation-based training and foster a collaborative culture among medical staff to avoid fatal missteps.
4. Targeted Resource Allocation
Regions with higher maternal and neonatal mortality rates require specialised intervention. Increased funding for these at-risk areas would help address inequities in care caused by under-resourcing.
5. Expand Family Support Services
Beyond immediate compensation, affected families need mental health counselling, advocacy groups, and guidance through the aftermath of medical harm. Comprehensive family support should be a priority for reform efforts.
Lessons Ignored, Lives Cut Short
The prolonged delays in addressing medical negligence are not faceless bureaucratic missteps; they are tragedies measured in babies’ lives and parents’ grief. Events like Baby Kevin’s passing or Hannah Collins’s stillbirth illustrate a clear and pressing need for change.
The time has come for Ireland’s healthcare system to stop offering meaningless apologies and start implementing solutions. Apologies that arrive too late, like the HSE’s words to the Mulcair, McNeill, or Collins families, fail to heal wounds left unaddressed for years.
Call to Action
This issue affects us all—whether you’re a grieving family, a healthcare advocate, or a concerned citizen. Every voice matters in demanding systemic reform to build a healthcare system that parents can trust.
If you or someone you know has been impacted by substandard maternity care, HOMS Assist provides empathetic, expert legal guidance for pursuing medical negligence claims. Together, we can advocate for justice and a future where no parent endures the preventable loss of their child.
Contact HOMS Assist today for advice and guidance in seeking justice. Change begins with accountability, and accountability begins with all of us.
