Twenty twenty-four was a year of trying to keep the major capital projects moving forward and at the same time managing with an increasingly busy service across pregnancy-related care, Gynaecology and Neonatal Paediatrics. On a national or regional level the RCSI Hospital Group was replaced by a new structure of health areas which incorporated primary and secondary care. Within each new each health region there are Integrated Health Areas or IHA’s and each had its own manager. I do believe that the Rotunda has been particularly fortunate with the configuration of these health areas and we now find ourselves more closely aligned with our historic and major clinical partner, the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital. I think that we have also been fortunate in that our IHA manager is Ms. Mellany McLoone and the CEO of our new health region is Ms. Sara Long. The Rotunda has managed to quickly develop relationships with both these people and I am confident that they have been and will continue to be, very supportive of women’s health.
We again experienced an increase in the demand for our pregnancy-related care delivering 8,324 women. We have also experienced a significant increase in our gynaecology workload with the number of referrals now over 1,000/month and a subsequent knock-on effect in terms of an increase in our day case and inpatient gynaecology activity. Our neonatal service continues to offer excellent care in physicalsurroundings which are a constant challenge, especially in terms of preventing infection.
In 2023 we had truly remarkable figures for the number of perinatal deaths and the number of babies who required therapeutic hypothermia. While this year’s figures have also been excellent we have noticed an increase in the number of stillbirths and early neonatal deaths. There has also been an increase in the number of babies treated with therapeutic hypothermia and I think that this is inevitable when you have an intervention that has been shown to reduce cerebral palsy rates by 50%. The consequence of such a successful intervention is that inevitably it is applied to a broader group of newborns. What is reassuring is that the adjusted perinatal mortality rate for normally formed infants born weighing more than 2,500 grams is 0.9/1000. This figure is in many ways the most important metric for comparing care between care providers and should, I believe, be used for comparing hospital care with other services such as homebirths or a free birth service. – Prof Sean Daly, Master of the Rotunda Hospital.
READ THE FULL 2024 ANNUAL REPORT
“On the 1st January 2023, I was incredibly honoured to take up the post of Master of the Rotunda Hospital. I would like to start by acknowledging the incredible work of Prof. Fergal Malone over the previous seven years who had guided the hospital through the Covid Pandemic and the Cyber Attack on our Electronic Medical Records, while all the time ensuring that the hospital moved forward on multiple fronts. The approval for the Critical Care Wing Development was also secured during Prof. Malone’s term as Master.
One of my principal responsibilities will be to ensure that this Critical Care Wing is delivered over the next seven years.
My first year as Master has been an incredibly exciting, challenging and rewarding year. We have delivered 8,442 babies during the year and have cared for almost 10,000 pregnant women, in addition we have cared for almost 1,700 babies in our Paediatric Service. Our perinatal mortality rate, and in particular our perinatal death rate in women at term is a huge credit all the staff. The rate of hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy is at a record low with a rate of 0.71/1000 births. These tragic events can happen despite the best efforts of all involved in the clinical care of women and while I am delighted to be reporting such excellent figures, I readily acknowledge that these numbers can vary
year on year.
In terms of Gyneacology, we have had more than 3,700 women who required inpatient/day case surgery and now have the busiest Gynaecology Service in Ireland. We receive almost 1,000 new referrals a month but our waiting lists continue to be managed well, with no woman waiting more than 12 months to be seen. We are particularly focused on those women who wait longer than 9 months and are working towards achieving the Slaintecare targets of 10 weeks for an outpatient appointment.” – Prof Sean Daly, Master of the Rotunda Hospital.
READ THE FULL 2023 ANNUAL REPORT
“I am delighted to present the annual clinical and management report of the Rotunda Hospital Dublin for 2022, in this my seventh year as Master. The Rotunda is well on its way towards fulfilling its vision to be “the internationally recognised maternity hospital of choice – outstanding care delivered by exceptional people”, becoming the busiest maternity hospital in Ireland, as well as one of the busiest in all of Europe. In 2022, we cared for 9,757 pregnant mothers and delivered 8,292 babies. Our team of 1,215 staff are our greatest asset and continue to work tirelessly in achieving our vision while providing the best possible care to our patients.” – Prof Fergal Malone, Master of the Rotunda Hospital.