Following the agreement, the hospital in Ettelbruck has announced that it intends to reopen its maternity ward "as soon as possible".
Minister of Health Paulette Lenert and Minister of Social Security Claude Haagen announced in a statement published on Thursday evening that an agreement has been reached to reopen the maternity clinic in Ettelbruck, after it had been closed to due staff shortages.
According to the ministers, all parties involved, i.e. the Association of Anaesthetists, the Association of Gynaecologists, and the paediatricians working at the Centre Hospitalier du Nord (CHdN), are in agreement and a "good concept" allowing for a reopening has been drafted.
The management and the medical staff of the hospital in Ettelbruck have announced that they intend to reopen the maternity clinic "as soon as possible".
In their joint statement, Lenert and Haagen also assure that a date for the reopening is to be announced as soon as possible.
Dr Paul Wirtgen, the Director General of the hospital in Ettelbruck, and Dr Romain Nati, the Director General of the Centre Hospitalier de Luxembourg (CHL), have stated that they welcome the agreement.
Interview with Dr Paul Wirtgen
Speaking to our colleagues from RTL Radio on Friday morning, Dr Wirtgen explained that the concept to reopen the maternity clinic in Ettelbruck is based on three principles.
In the future, anaesthetists will be able to actively participate in the reanimation of a newborn. In this case, the anaesthetist will receive a remote expert's assessment by the neonatologist at the CHL in Luxembourg City. Dr Wirtgen explained that it could take up to two weeks to set up such a system. The availability of the 'Service Samu Neonatal' will also be expanded.
The implementation of these measures had to be negotiated with the responsible ministries, as they are not explicitly provided for by the current laws, according to Dr Wirtgen. The teams involved are now doing everything in their power to implement the three principles "as quickly as possible". The Director General of the CHdN estimates that if the maternity clinic in Ettelbruck has to remain closed for three to four weeks, between 60 and 70 births will have to be transferred to other hospitals.
Dr Wirtgen also explained that two of the four paediatricians who work at the maternity clinic in Ettelbruck quit "at very short notice" due to circumstances beyond their control. This essentially led to the current situation, according to Dr Wirtgen.
