Martin Daly urges full Walker Report implementation at Porto Yonkla
Martin Daly challenged the minister over the state of the maternity unit at Porto Yonkla Hospital, demanding full implementation of the Walker Report (2018) and clear resource commitments. He highlighted conflicting accounts from HSE West North West and HSE leadership and raised concerns about patient transfers and care for gestational diabetic women.
Martin Daly set out a contradiction in official accounts - HSE West North West has presented the unit as having failed despite Walker 2018, while Bernard Glasser, CEO of the HSE, told a health committee it was patently obvious the Walker Report had not been implemented.
He pressed for confirmation that the resources needed to implement Walker 2018 will be provided and noted findings from Coulter-Smith in 2025 that identified problems in the first seven of 12 cases. He also disputed claims that Hickel properly reviewed Walker, saying Hickel carried out only a one-day general review in April 2019.
Daly described confusion over plans to move about 300 cases into a Universal Health Care (UHC) setting, citing a meeting with GPs and the clinical director where the clinical director said there was no evidence to move many of the categories under discussion. He flagged that gestational diabetic women are not being moved despite assertions that it is not safe for their children to remain at the unit.
The minister acknowledged the shared priority of safety for expectant mothers and babies, agreed Walker was a seminal report that needs full implementation, and said resources would be forthcoming. The minister expressed determination to invest in Port Young Hospital and agreed to reflect on Daly's comments and liaise directly with him.
Allegations of conflicting narratives
Martin Daly set out a contradiction in official accounts - HSE West North West has presented the unit as having failed despite Walker 2018, while Bernard Glasser, CEO of the HSE, told a health committee it was patently obvious the Walker Report had not been implemented.
Questions on implementation and reviews
He pressed for confirmation that the resources needed to implement Walker 2018 will be provided and noted findings from Coulter-Smith in 2025 that identified problems in the first seven of 12 cases. He also disputed claims that Hickel properly reviewed Walker, saying Hickel carried out only a one-day general review in April 2019.
Concerns about patient moves and clinical judgement
Daly described confusion over plans to move about 300 cases into a Universal Health Care (UHC) setting, citing a meeting with GPs and the clinical director where the clinical director said there was no evidence to move many of the categories under discussion. He flagged that gestational diabetic women are not being moved despite assertions that it is not safe for their children to remain at the unit.
Minister's response and next steps
The minister acknowledged the shared priority of safety for expectant mothers and babies, agreed Walker was a seminal report that needs full implementation, and said resources would be forthcoming. The minister expressed determination to invest in Port Young Hospital and agreed to reflect on Daly's comments and liaise directly with him.
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Transcript
Minister, I just want to bring you back to the maternity unit in Porto Yonkla Hospital. You would have been very aware in your time of the Walker Report in 2018, and we have a problem in the maternity unit at Porto Yonkla Hospital, and I had an exchange with the Minister of Health a couple of weeks ago. The narrative being sold by HSE West North West is that this unit has failed in spite of the implementation of the Walker Report in 2018. However, Bernard Glasser, CEO of the HSE, at a health committee meeting a number of weeks ago said it's patently patent to him that the Walker Report was never implemented. So now we have a different narrative. The narrative is that the Walker Report was never implemented fully, and this unit has failed. So what I'm asking is, can the resources that are required to implement Walker 2018, all of the same problems identified by Coulter-Smith in 2025 in the first seven of 12 cases be implemented? We have confusion down there now. So we were told that 300 cases would be moved into UHC. I was on a meeting with GPs with the clinical director and the associate clinical director a couple of weeks ago. Clinical director saying to GPs there's no evidence to move many of the categories that they're talking about moving. The gestational diabetic women are not being moved, in spite of the fact that on one hand the HSE are identifying it as not safe to have their children there. So what I want to know, will the resources that are required to have a fully functioning maternity unit in Port Young Hospital be implemented as per the Walker Report and as per, and finally, it was quoted to me that Hickel performed a review of the Walker Report. They did not do that. They did a general review, a one-day review in April 2019. And identified all those issues. Sorry. Thank you very much, Deputy Dr Daly, because I know you obviously have a professional background in this as well, which I think is important to acknowledge too. So look, the Minister's only interest here, as I know is yours and everybody's in the area, is the safety and wellbeing of expected mothers and their babies. We all share that view and we all want to get that right. I remember the Walker Report, I think it was the Minister at the time when we commissioned it and it was seen as an important and seminal moment and it does need to be fully implemented and I'm sure resources will be forthcoming and I know the Minister has real determination to invest in Port Young Hospital as well, but certainly I don't like to hear what you say in relation to any sort of confusion or this and I'll certainly ask the Minister to reflect on your comments here today and to liaise with you directly.