NI child autopsies to be moved to Liverpool

The only consultant paediatric pathologist in Northern Ireland is to leave their post, it has been revealed.
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In a statement the Health and Social Care Board (HSCB), Public Health Agency (PHA) and Belfast Trust today set out plans to manage the perinatal and paediatric pathology service in Northern Ireland.

They said that despite "significant efforts to address this position including repeated recruitment drives both nationally and internationally, it has now been necessary to make alternative arrangements by securing paediatric pathology services from Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust in Liverpool".

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The statement added: "This is very much an interim arrangement and the HSC system will continue to work hard exploring all avenues to provide a local service in the longer term."

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“We recognise that the loss of a child is one of the most devastating events that can ever happen to a family and fully accept that the prospect of the post-mortem being performed outside Northern Ireland may compound the distress experienced by families," said Heather Reid, Public Health Specialist, speaking on behalf of the Health and Social Care Board and Public Health Agency.

“While we will have to adapt our service, we want to assure parents that they will continue to have the choice of whether or not to go ahead with a hospital post-mortem. We also believe there are opportunities to provide post-mortem findings more quickly and enhance the support and information families receive.

“While it is acknowledged that a service outside of Northern Ireland is not what we would wish for, working closely with a much larger centre such as Alder Hey will provide a more robust service in the interim period.”

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Ms Reid continued: “We are working closely with families, staff, charities and other partners to take every possible step to ensure that any baby or child who requires a post-mortem is treated with the utmost respect, dignity and sensitivity throughout their journey now and in the future and that families will have our full support when facing these very traumatic circumstances.

“In the meantime, the wider Health and Social Care system will continue to exhaust all efforts to try to ensure that a local service can be provided in Northern Ireland in the longer term.”

It is expected that new arrangements will be implemented from January 2019.