University Hospital Galway has begun a review after newborn babies suffered head injuries while being delivered last year, the Minister for Health has confirmed.
External experts have been drafted in to examine cases where babies were diagnosed with subgaleal haemorrhage - an accumulation of blood that forms between the newborn's skull and the skin on the scalp, as originally reported by the Irish Independent this morning.
Stephen Donnelly said the Saolta Group, which manages UHG, has identified what they described as "a small cluster" of babies.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Minister Donnelly said the hospital advised him that all of the babies went home healthy.
"I can confirm that all of the parents involved in the review have been informed, which is essential," he said.
"And what's happening here is the hospital is initiating a review. It's exactly the type of thing we want to see hospitals do when they spot a potential patient safety issue.
"They've initiated a review, they've engaged with all of the parents involved and we now need to let that process happen and see what it finds."
He called for "full openness and transparency with the parents involved" and said that the patient safety review should be published.
"There are incidences when certain elements of it may not be published, but the default, as far as I'm concerned, is that these things are published," the minister added.
In a statement, Saolta said: "When subgaleal haemorrhage of the newborn occurs in a hospital in the Saolta University Health Care Hospital Group it is reported through the incident reporting process and logged with National Incident Managing System.
"Every such incident will have a preliminary review performed, and the findings are presented at the Saolta Serious Incident Management Team meeting.
"There are varying grades of severity of subgaleal haemorrhage dependant on a number of clinical factors.
"UHG are currently undertaking a review of cases of subgaleal haemorrhage which occurred during 2022 as part of a commitment to quality of care.
"In all of the cases the infant was discharged home well from hospital."
