'Opportunity to reform NI's maternity services missed'
PA MediaThe author of a review into maternity services in Northern Ireland has said an opportunity for reform has been missed.
Prof Mary Renfrew was speaking after a government review found maternity services in England are "not set up to deliver consistently safe, high-quality and compassionate care".
Renfrew carried out a review of services in Northern Ireland in October 2024 and is calling for "urgent transformation".
The Department of Health said it is committed to improving the safety, quality and governance of maternity services, and work is underway including implementation of the recommendations in Renfrew's report.
Renfrew said the recommendations from her report were "hugely accepted as the right way forward".
She said there was "phenomenal support" for the report and it felt "optimistic".
"From where I am looking at the moment, there are some small steps forward," she told BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster.
"But we haven't yet seen the whole system, whole region action plan that's needed to transform care and transform experiences for staff.
"Taking all that work which involved hundreds and hundreds of people over the months in which we gathered the information for this report and not using it, not building on it, not implementing the recommendations is hugely disappointing."
She said Northern Ireland has a "fantastic opportunity to get this right".
"It is small scale enough that it can implement such changes, it's already built that platform that was built during the work of the report."
Renfrew added that she believes there is "genuine wish for it to be better".
"But wishing isn't enough, it needs absolute action plan that involves all the key players."
'Snails pace'
Alliance Party MLA Nuala McAllister, who sits on Stormont's health committee, said it is "difficult" to hear that not much has been implemented.
"I honestly believe that some of the issues within that review that are being overlooked are because we simply don't have the capacity to do it at the minute.
"I think that is because of the mess of services that we have."
She pointed to Belfast's new maternity hospital being delayed and Daisy Hill Hospital's temporary suspension of maternity services last week as issues.
"I think there is an onus on all the trusts to work together."
McAllister added that health policy changes in Northern Ireland move at a "snails pace".
"I honestly can't say why it is moving so slowly other than their eyes have been on other issues, it is not a priority."
She added that the health committee are asking what stages the recommendations are at.
What was in the review?
The review recommended an overhaul of the maternity system in Northern Ireland.
Renfrew identified "both serious weaknesses and real strengths" in current services and said "urgent transformation" was needed.
A review was recommended by a coroner who had ruled on the death of baby Jaxon McVey after failings at the Lagan Valley hospital in Lisburn in March 2017.
The review said Northern Ireland was not alone in experiencing constraints to quality care provision for women and babies.
Unlike other reviews, the report details 32 recommendations for action and is accompanied by a five-year programme for change.