HSE warns against hospital death speculation

THE Health Service Executive has appealed for people not to jump to conclusions regarding recent deaths at the University Hospital Limerick (UHL).

The health authority made the intervention after the death of a third young woman at the hospital.

It was reported yesterday that a 33-year-old mother-to-be died at UHL last weekend. The woman was pregnant with her first child. It is believed she died from a cardiac arrest on Sunday after she was told the previous day she had lost her baby. Her death comes just three weeks after a 16-yearold schoolgirl died at UHL. It is believed the girl from Co. Limerick was brought to the hospital’s resuscitation section before being moved to a corridor.

However, the teenager became unwell again and died shortly after being brought back to the resuscitation area.

Former Chief Justice Frank Clarke is carrying out an official inquiry into how Aoife Johnston, 16, from Shannon, Co. Clare, died at UHL in December 2022 from sepsis after she had contracted bacterial meningitis.

In a statement issued yesterday, HSE boss Bernard Gloster said, after details of the third death emerged: ‘We are concerned that some current commentary in relation to tragic outcomes at University Hospital Limerick is putting forward inappropriate conclusions about some of these cases, and could affect the confidence of people in attending the hospital.’

He added: ‘Not every tragic outcome for a family in Limerick means there has been a failure in the service. Not every tragic outcome has the same attributes as other cases in which failure has been identified.’