It is my pleasure to write an introduction for the 21st edition of the Rotunda GP-Connect E-zine in which we have four very informative articles covering fertility, the sexual assault treatment unit, management of post bariatric surgery patients during pregnancy and our Emergency Assessment Unit.
Glenda Sanbenero and Chloe Kelly our two Clinical Fertility Midwife Specialists are part of a multidisciplinary team providing care to couples experiencing difficulty achieving a pregnancy. There is now accepted criteria for referring to the National Fertility Hub and the referrals are triaged by one of our consultants and a questionnaire is sent to the couple. Once the questionnaire has been completed an appointment will be organised with a member of the team and initial fertility investigations are performed. The article is very informative in terms of what these initial investigations would be and details the services that are available to couples within the Rotunda Fertility Hub.
Dr. Dan Kane who is a Specialist Registrar and a forensic examiner within the Rotunda Sexual Assault Treatment Unit has a very informative article about the care provided within this unit. This Unit, was the first Sexual Assault Treatment Unit in Europe, offers care to people of all genders who are over 14 years of age. It operates 24/7 and there are essentially three options; a forensic examination with a member of the Garda Síochána, a health check and a forensic examination without An Garda Síochána involvement. The pathway is detailed with a description of what is involved in each of these options and the referral pathways.
The third article in this particular E-zine refers to the management of patients post bariatric surgery during pregnancy. The numbers being referred to the Rotunda are increasing year on year and we cared for 84 women post bariatric surgery in 2023. This article is particularly detailed and I certainly believe it will be very useful and it is almost counter intuitive that this group could suffer from malnutrition with a subsequent increase risk of adverse maternal and fetal outcomes. There is a recommendation now that women should wait 12- 18 months post-surgery as this may further increase the risk of maternal complications.
The final article is written by one of our Advance Midwife Pactioneers in our Emergency Assessment Unit Ms. Debra England. Debra outlines areas were referrals may not be useful and also gives some details about our Day Assessment Unit which is open 7 days a week. Debra and her colleagues run a 24/7 day service. The article highlights the increase pressures on Emergency Departments and in particular ours in the Rotunda with referrals that could be better managed within the community
Professor Sean Daly,
Master/CEO, Rotunda Hospital.
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