The Western Health Board has taken one small but significant step towards easing the staffing crisis in the State's public health service. Its new maternity wing in Mayo General Hospital, Castlebar, is designed to allow its "customers" to take control.
By affording women in labour much more independence, it is expected that the demand for epidurals will drop - at a time when some hospitals have been forced to offer a restricted service because of staff shortages.
So far Mayo General has experienced no serious problems apart from one weekend in August, according to the health board, but it has a very low epidural rate.
The wood-panelled, soft-lit, 30-bed unit aims to recreate a domestic environment and to reduce the "clinical look", according to Dr Darach Corcoran, consultant obstetrician.
Delivery beds are equipped with a control panel which the woman can operate, allowing her to sit, squat or lie in any position during labour. Cushions fitted to the bed can be inflated by a control switch, without having to ask medical staff.
Newborn babies are never out of sight; a special-care baby area within the unit takes up to 12 infants. The new unit includes four delivery suites equipped with bathing facilities, and the only difference between home and hospital is the full-time presence of medical teams and the absence of carpets.
Dr Corcoran says the environment is the next best thing to a home-birth situation, with all the advantages. Epidurals are available on demand, and have been at Mayo General for some years.
"The fact that one doesn't have to book beforehand may actually contribute to our low rate of only 21 per cent take-up in all deliveries," he says. "Women come in here knowing that they can change their mind at any stage - within safety limits - and quite a few find they can get on fine without one."
Last year, some 1,147 babies were born at Mayo General. The unit is part of the £25 million development of the hospital, which began in January 1999 and will include a new accident and emergency department, new orthopaedic and obstetric departments, a medical day-care unit, pathology department, conference hall and education centre.
For those who want to have a look at the latest addition, images are available on the hospital's website at www.mgh.ie
Voluntary efforts to raise funds for improved health services in the west have attracted the support of the former Connacht-Ulster MEP, Mark Killilea. The Rehab Foundation has been trying for the past 10 years to secure finance for a special brain-injury rehabilitative unit, and hopes to do so now in the Galway area with the support of the Western Regional Health Authority.
It is hosting a golf classic to boost fundraising efforts on September 15th in Tuam Golf Club, and Mr Killilea is one of three key supporters, along with former Galway footballer Pat Donnellan and Galway person of the year Proinsias Kitt.
The "silent epidemic" of brain injury has been ignored for too long in this State, Donnellan, Killilea and Kitt say in a joint statement. Each year, between 850 and 1,000 people are admitted to hospital with brain injuries in the Galway, Mayo and Roscommon area, and for a substantial number life is never the same again.
Sponsored by Eircell, the classic costs £400 for a team of four which includes entry, green fees, refreshments, dinner and wine. The special guest and compere during prize presentation will be John Cunningham, editor of the Connacht Tribune.
More details from the Rehab Foundation area organiser, Mr Ollie Robinson, at (091) 756653.
Croi, the West of Ireland Cardiology Foundation which has set a target of £1 million for heart surgery facilities at University College Hospital, Galway, is not far off its final figure.
A masked ball to help raise the outstanding £110,000 is being held on October 6th in the Galway Bay Hotel, Salthill. More details from James Seymour at 086 8152932.
