Ethical environment to differ in various parts of St Vincent’s campus

By Paul Cullen
Irish Times
April 26, 2017

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/ethical-environment-to-differ-in-various-parts-of-st-vincent-s-campus-1.3062622

Dr Peter Boylan: concerns have been raised about the composition of the board of the new maternity hospital, which Dr Boylan has described as “a recipe for conflict”. Photo by Brenda Fitzsimons

Picture the scenario, say a decade hence: a pregnant woman with diabetes is told by her doctors that giving birth may threaten her health, even her life. The woman is entitled to terminate her pregnancy under legislation, should her doctors decide this is necessary.

But where should this termination take place, if the woman is being treated for her diabetes in St Vincent’s hospital and is due to deliver her baby in the new national maternity hospital to be located there?

Best practice suggests the procedure should take place close to where adult medicine is being practised in St Vincent’s, in case something untoward happens. But will this be possible given the Catholic ethos in force in the hospital?

This is the kind of real-life scenario which can be teased out endlessly as part of the debate over moving the National Maternity Hospital (NMH) to St Vincent’s, where the site will be owned by the Sisters of Charity.