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JUST one of the country's main maternity hospitals has been able to confirm it provided staff training on recent guidelines covering the care of pregnant women suffering a potentially life-threatening infection.
Staff being trained in the 2012 guidelines is a key recommendation in the the draft report of the review group examining the care of Savita Halappanavar at Galway University Hospital.
The three major maternity hospitals were questioned by the Irish Independent yesterday.
Only the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin confirmed that it hadprovided induction on the guidelines that were produced in July last year.
The National Maternity Hospital at Holles Street and the Coombe Hospital did not respond to queries at the time of going to press.
The guidelines cover the recognition, monitoring and management of infection, sepsis and septic shock.
Savita (31), who had an underlying infection which went undiagnosed for three days, developed severe sepsis and septic shock before her death in October last year.
Doctors treating Savita, who was told she would have a miscarriage, underestimated the seriousness of her condition, the review group concluded.
She died seven days after her admission, as the impact of the infection led to her suffering a cardiac arrest.
Abuse
The draft recommendations of the review group, chaired by UK obstetrician Professor Sabaratnam Arulkumaran, called for mandatory training of staff at the Galway hospital in the guidelines.
The report also reveals how some staff at the Galway hospital experienced verbal abuse and received abusive correspondence from the public after Savita's death last year.
The review group said it was clear that staff who were interviewed were "deeply saddened and shocked by tragic and untimely death of Savita".
The hospital put in place supports for the employees. All the staff involved in the case co-operated willingly with the review group's inquiry into her clinical care.
And although Savita's husband Praveen did not co-operate with the review, the report said it took into account his interview on RTE's 'Prime Time'.
Sinn Fein TD Mary Lou MacDonald said yesterday: "Savita's husband Praveen has been treated appallingly throughout this entire process."
Irish Independent
