Hospital didn’t listen to me, says mother of tragic baby

A MOTHER has told the High Court that she felt medical staff did not listen to her about her concerns for her baby son, shortly before his death at Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital in Crumlin.

The hospital has apologised to Áine Julian and her husband Seán for the shortcomings in care that caused the death of nine-month-old Eoin.

He died after being admitted to the emergency department of the Dublin hospital in significant respiratory distress on December 29, 2015.

He had been born in March 2015 with a congenital heart defect, but the court heard from counsel Oonan McCrann SC that Eoin was doing very well until he developed a lower respiratory tract infection in December 2015. He had been a patient of the hospital, and his medical history should have been known, it was claimed.

But it was claimed he became in increasing distress while he was in the hospital. In the early morning of December 30, the court was told Mr and Mrs Julian had asked for help from a nurse, and had been told that he was not due any medication.

As the morning went on, Mrs Julian, who is herself a nurse, asked repeatedly for a doctor, but was advised that the doctor was on the ward round and would attend later.

An emergency call was eventually put out after another nurse reviewed Eoin, and requested medical assistance, the court heard.

Eoin was resuscitated and sent to the intensive care ward, but he went into cardiac arrest and was pronounced dead at 1.15pm.

It was claimed that medics had failed to have due regard to his respiratory infection, against his background of congenital heart disease.

And it was claimed they had failed to give him timely treatment, or to transfer him promptly to a high dependency unit.

A letter to the couple from the chief executive of the hospital was read out in court.

In it, Helen Shortt said: ‘The hospital unreservedly extends its heartfelt and sincere apology for the shortcomings in the care which caused the death of your baby son Eoin and for the distress and suffering this has caused to you both and to your family.’

In her statement of claim, Áine Julian said she suffered sudden, severe and profound nervous shock, upset and mental distress from the shocking and traumatic circumstances surrounding the unexpected death of her son.

She had suffered the additional stress of feeling that they were not listened to in the hospital, and she felt extreme guilt for not having called a consultant herself.

She said she did not stop crying for four months after his death, and her mother-in-law had to look after her other children.

In his statement, Seán Julian said he has frequent panic attacks and feelings of exhaustion. The case was settled before Judge Paul Butler for an undisclosed sum of damages.

Mother cried for four months