Rugby star health aide appointed by Donnelly to testify over A&E tragedy
Fiona Steed expected to be compelled to give evidence at inquest into teenager Aoife’s death
A KEY advisor to Health Minister Stephen Donnelly is expected to be among the senior hospital managers who will be compelled to give evidence at the forthcoming inquest into the tragic death of teenager Aoife Johnston.
The 16-year-old died from bacterial meningitis at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) in December 2022 after a 12-hour wait in the hospital’s overcrowded Emergency Department.
Chief Health and Social Care Professional Officer at the Department of Health Fiona Steed – a former rugby international – was one of those involved in managing the hospital on the night.
Aoife’s parents, Carol and James held separate one-hour meetings with Minister Donnelly and Health Service Executive (HSE) chief executive Bernard Gloster on Friday.
Two days earlier, they met with former Chief Justice Frank Clarke, who will head up an independent inquiry into the care received by their teenage daughter when she was treated at UHL.
Last night the legal team representing the Johnston family said they would urge the coroner presiding over Aoife’s inquest to summon administrative staff as well as medics togive evidence.
Senior Counsel and senior partner at Tansey Solicitors, Damien Tansey, told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘We will be insisting on behalf of the family that the key administrative staff involved in the hospital on the night in question and having a role in relation to the efficient running of the hospital on the night in question, will be called to give evidence at the inquest and will be asked in advance of their appearance to prepare a statement.
‘We, as the lawyers for the family, will be insisting on the appropriate administrative staff also being called to give evidence as well as the medical staff.
‘We will be impressing on the coroner the absolute necessity for having witnesses from the administrative wing of the hospital as well as the medical fraternity.’
When Aoife was brought to University Hospital Limerick on December 17, 2022, Ms Steed – a former captain of the Munster women’s team – was General Manager of the hospital group’s Medicine Directorate.
An internal report into the tragic sequence of events which unfolded at UHL in the two days leading up to Aoife’s death found that the hospital’s Emergency Department was so overcrowded managers could have activated an escalation protocol.
If implemented, this could have eased pressure on the hospital’s A&E by moving patients to wards.
The independent investigation by the former Chief Justice will examine why this escalation protocol was not implemented.
Ms Steed has been working on secondment with Minister Donnelly since last May.
Her appointment was announced by Mr Donnelly eight months ago.
At the time he said he was ‘delighted’ she would be joining his department.
Asked how the secondment of the senior hospital manager was arranged and whether its senior advisor would give evidence at the forthcoming inquest, officials at Minister Donnelly’s department initially declined to comment.
But when pressed further, a Department of Health spokesman would only say: ‘The recruitment of the Chief Health and Social Care Professional was through a national Expression of Interest process and was an open competition.’
The HSE has refused to say how many emergency medicine consultants work at UHL providing a 24-hour service. The health authority also refused to reveal how many emergency medicine specialists and nurses have been recruited since Aoife Johnston died.
In a statement issued last night, a HSE spokeswoman said: ‘We don’t want to comment in detail on the SAR report into the tragic death of Aoife Johnston at University Hospital Limerick, pending the completion of the independent investigation under the chairmanship of former Chief Justice Mr Frank Clarke.
‘However when adverse incidents occur the HSE does not await the outcome of all investigations before commencing improvement plans.
‘This is the case also with UHL/UL Hospitals Group. After a systems analysis report, individual services develop improvement plans directly linked to the recommendations and these are actioned and followed up. Again, this is the case here.
‘The HSE wants to assure the public that continuous improvements are underway at UHL/ULHG and people should continue to avail of the many good services there delivered by our staff.’
The statement added: ‘Additional focus in 2023 has included ED [Emergency Department] Consultant Staffing and the pursuit of Safe Staffing levels in relation to nursing and healthcare assistants.
‘The recently appointed Regional Executive Officer for the Mid West has as a priority the best integration of all services in the region to the benefit of the public where both access and safety are the top of the list.’
The inquest into Aoife Johnston’s death will be held in April.
It is believed as many as 30 witnesses may give evidence about the events that unfolded at the Limerick hospital in the days between when 16-year-old Aoife arrived at the hospital seeking medical attention, and when she died two days later after developing sepsis.
‘We will insist that all key staff give evidence’
‘Both access and safety are at the top of the list’