Clutching a tiny white coffin on their knees two devastated Buncrana parents were forced to take a five-hour bus journey to Dublin for an autopsy on their two-week-old baby boy who died suddenly, because there's no paediatric pathologist in Donegal.
Inishowen councillor Rena Donaghey said it was disgraceful the distraught parents had to take the heartrendering mini-bus journey, and stay over night in the capital because there's no service provided in Donegal.
She now wants the system review
ed and wants a more sensitive protocol to be put in place.
Speaking to the Journal, Cllr Donaghey, who knows the family, said: "This was very very sad and very traumatic for the family, compounded then by the fact that they had to then take a five hour journey by minibus to a hospital in Dublin to have an autopsy carried out.
"They had to take a five hour journey with the little baby's coffin on their knees.
"They didn't even get home that night they had to stay over night in Dublin and they werne't back until after 10pm the following night.
"I am extremely annoyed they had to go through this."
She said she'd spoken to staff at Letterkenny General Hospital who informed her there was nobody there to carry out the procedure, at the hospital or anywhere else in the North West.
She said she was shocked to learn the parents has such a heartbreaking journey, saying 'no family should ever have to go through this'.
Solution needed
She's also spoken to the Donegal coroner, Dr John Madden, who agrees there needs to be some other solution than making a devastated family take such a painstaking long journey.
He wrote to the county secretary of Donegal County Council demanding a resolution on the system, this follows on from a letter he had written two years ago following a similar situation, but nothing had happened since.
Cllr Donaghey said either the pathologist should have travelled up to Donegal to carry out the post mortem, or that they should be able to have the post mortem carried out in the North.
She added: "Thankfully this problem does not arise too often, and there's no need to have a full time paediatric pathologist in Donegal. But it's not acceptable to expect a grieving mum and dad to travel all the way to Dublin for a post mortem on their baby. Other procedures need to be put in place.
"I don't ever want any other couple to be put through this serious trauma.
"They had to stay in Dublin, away from their baby and away from their other young child. It's just not right."
In the event of an unexpected infant death, it is the Coroner's responsibility to source a paediatric pathologist. But the nearest paediatric pathologist to Donegal is based in Dublin.
A spokesperson from the HSE told the Journal: "Donegal County Council is responsible for the Coroner's service. The Coroner's office is a completely independent office, but it is supported and administered by Donegal County Council. There is no paediatric pathologist in the North West. It is desirable that a paediatric post mortem service is available in hospitals throughout the country, but this is not always possible due to the insufficient capacity outside of Dublin. It is not within the remit of a hospital to provide funding for travel for the services of a paediatric pathologist."
