We are sorry that our failures led to Aoife’s death, HSE boss admits
We failed them as a family, says contrite Bernard Gloster
HSE CHIEF Bernard Gloster admitted yesterday the health service ‘failed’ Aoife Johnston – and that failure ‘led to her death’.
Mr Gloster apologised live on air to 16-year-old Aoife’s devastated family on RTÉ’s This Week programme yesterday.
‘There is only one thing we can say to them, and that is that we apologise. We are sorry,’ said Mr Gloster. ‘We failed Aoife – our failure led to her death. We failed them as a family.’
On Friday, after a harrowing four-day inquest into Ms Johnson’s death, the coroner returned a verdict of medical misadventure.
The inquest heard Ms Johnston, from Shannon, Co. Clare – who died in December 2022 following ‘systemic failures’ in her care – was not seen by a doctor for 12 hours, despite having been referred to University Hospital Limerick (UHL) by her GP with suspected sepsis.
During the inquest, a doctor gave evidence describing the hospital as a ‘war zone’ and said the 16-year-old ‘had no chance’.
‘Quite taken aback by testimony’
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said: ‘I was quite taken aback by that testimony. I know some of his [the doctor’s] colleagues are saying very openly it’s a lot better and safer now than it was when Aoife Johnston died.’
Mr Donnelly said there was no question the ongoing number of patients on trolleys at UHL was ‘not safe’ and ‘not acceptable’.
Asked about the outcome of Ms Johnston’s inquest, the minister said the reconfiguration of the A&E service in counties Clare, Limerick and Tipperary was ‘not done correctly’.
Since the downgrading of Ennis, Nenagh and St John’s (Limerick) hospitals in 2009, just one emergency department (ED) has served the three counties.
Mr Donnelly said the region’s A&E services were shut down before the significant extra investment that was required for UHL was made.
The clinical view is that the three hospitals where the EDs were closed are too small for the required level of specialisation for patient care, the minister said.
Urgent action to make UHL’s ED safe is now being called for, with people said to be ‘in fear’ of going there due to persistent overcrowding. Mr Donnelly has asked the HSE for a review and said he was aware people believe the region needs a second ED.
‘I have asked for an updated view from the HSE in the last few months because I’m very conscious people are calling for an ED to be opened, be it in Ennis or wherever it might be,’ he said.
Mr Gloster said there were no findings against any individuals but accountability would be addressed ‘by me alone and without fear or favour’.
In relation to Dr Jim Gray’s description of UHL’s ED as being like ‘a death trap’, Mr Gloster said even though there was still overcrowding, the ED was ‘much more safe’ now. He said the number of junior doctors, emergency consultants and nurses had all risen since Ms Johnston died and ‘many other steps’ to improve safety had been taken.
‘I’m satisfied that if people need emergency care they should and could attend that department today,’ he said. ‘I do understand the concern people have against the backdrop of the very traumatic week that the public experienced. Our job is to work to build people’s confidence and safety assurance in the hospital.’
On a possible reopening of the other EDs, Mr Gloster said the clinical advice was to build capacity in Limerick and further capacity for support systems in the other hospitals. Noeleen Moran of the Mid-West Hospital Campaign, said people in Clare, Limerick and Tipperary were ‘in fear’ and ‘would rather die at home’ than go to UHL. Ms Moran said no family should have to endure what the Johnston family have endured and there had been ‘a legacy of failure by successive health ministers’. She said overcrowding was ‘a consequence’ of the closure of the region’s EDs in 2009, adding: ‘There’s been a lot of words of sympathy to the family but there’s no sincerity behind those words unless actions follow. The only meaningful action that’s going to change things in the midwest is an additional emergency department.’