DETAILS: #isupportphilomena Letter Writing Campaign in Support of Philomena Canning. Lets ensure our voices are heard! Lobby your local TD, Minister for Health Leo Varadkar, HSE, Department of Health, National Clinical Leads, HIQA, the Ombudsman. Ciara Considine has provided a fantastic TC letter Template. See below for full text: Recipient Contact Details: HIQA: [email protected] Sheila Sugrue - National Midwifery Lead, Ireland: [email protected] Michael Turner - National Obstetric Lead, Ireland: [email protected] Minister for Health - Leo Varadkar: [email protected] Twitter: @campaignforleo Department of Health: [email protected] Twitter (news centre) @roinnslainte HSE Twitter @HSElive HSE Departments of Public Health: hse.ie/publichealth/ Ombudman: [email protected] You can find your TDs here: whoismytd/ Letter Template: Dear [TD name] I am writing to express my concern regarding the HSE’s recent removal of the indemnity cover of independent midwife Philomena Canning. There are a number of concerning aspects to what has occurred, which I will outline below. Ms Canning, a midwife of 31 years with a 100% safety record, was informed by the HSE of a ‘serious incident’ in August 2014. When she sought details from the HSE, on more than one occasion, none were forthcoming. Why were details not forthcoming to her when sought? She was next informed just this September that her indemnity was being removed. This was to occur without any prior communication to the midwife regarding what was allegedly under investigation, let alone any due investigation being carried out. Her contract with the HSE, her indemnifiers, sets out clear parameters to be observed in the event of any investigation. None of these have been observed. On what grounds does a health service that openly concedes they have found nothing against this midwife remove indemnity without due process? When Ms Canning sought an injunction to prevent this removal of indemnity, the ‘serious incident’ in question was downgraded to a ‘minor disagreement’. These are two extreme positions in the context of the well-being of mothers and babies. On what basis did the HSE reach its original conclusion? On what basis did they reverse it? This removal of indemnity without due process has rendered Ms Canning entirely unable to practice. This has untold consequences for her as a professional, but also for the numerous mothers in her care, who are now left without a midwife for their chosen home birth. The conditions the HSE offered in a somewhat frantic backtrack, after Ms Canning applied for a High Court injunction, were untenable and would entirely undermine her professionalism, being akin to an admission of error, which she steadfastly resists. I am asking that you raise this matter with Minister for Health Mr Varadkar, in order that Ms Canning’s indemnity be reinstated with expediency while due process takes place. I also ask that a set time frame be put in place by the HSE in order to investigate those incidents they deem necessary so that a conclusion into this matter be reached quickly. It should be noted that the two cases supposedly under investigation, Mother A and Mother B, relate to two women who were transferred to hospital after birth. Both are clinically different cases, both women are well, and neither woman has made a complaint against Ms Canning. There are serious questions to be answered by the HSE, the same health service within which, tragically, three women have died in Irish hospitals in recent years, without the loss of indemnity to a single practitioner. It is a mind-boggling hypocrisy and the manner in which the HSE has acted, if unchecked, raises very serious questions around its powers and the manner in which it conducts itself. I look forward to hearing from you. etc.
Posted on: Wed, 01 Oct 2014 08:28:18 +0000
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