Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly has said he is acutely aware of the issues facing the gynaecology service at Letterkenny University Hospital and that there has “quite rightly been a serious look into it”.
Speaking to the Donegal News during his visit to the county last week Minister Donnelly said: “The only thing that matters is patient’s safety.
“I know the team here have been working night and day to make sure clinical quality is in place and the Saolta group and nationally the HSE have been doing a huge amount of work to make sure that women using these services know they are getting very safe, world class services.
“Not only are we doing that, but we’re investing more and more in women’s health care.
“We’re rolling out endometriosis centre specialists, menopause centres, perinatal health services, eating disorder teams and a lot more.
“So making sure women have rapid access to consistently high quality and safe services is front and centre in terms of the work the HSE are doing, the department are doing and the government are doing,” he said.
The Health and Information Authority (HIQA) will undertake an inspection at Letterkenny University Hospital this week which will include the hospital’s gynaecology services.
IMPROVEMENTS
HIQA confirmed that this announced inspection will take into account their previous review published last October which found further improvements were needed in the management of gynaecology services at Letterkenny University Hospital to ensure the safety of women.
It also found there were weaknesses in governance structures and processes at the hospital and oversight quality assurance mechanisms at Saolta Group level. The hospital came to HIQA attention following incidents of delayed diagnosis of endometrial cancer.
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