Judge asks for more time to finish report into Aoife’s death
Aretired top judge has sought more time to complete his independent investigation into the death of 16-year-old Aoife Johnston at University Hospital Limerick (UHL).
Aoife (16), from Shannon, Co Clare, waited 12 hours to be treated for sepsis in the overcrowded and understaffed accident and emergency department at the hospital. She died two days later on December 19, 2022.
Following an internal HSE report, former chief justice Frank Clarke was asked last December to investigate the circumstances of her death.
He was given eight weeks to present a report to HSE chief executive Bernard Gloster.
However, sources said he has requested more time to complete his work. An inquest into Aoife’s death that was due to take place next month is expected to be adjourned until his final investigation report.
A source said the family wanted all the information surrounding Aoife’s death to be available to them and to the coroner for the inquest, which is expected to take at least two days.
The internal HSE review, which was beset by delays and finally issued to her family last December, exposed failings and missed opportunities in her care during the hours she spent waiting for treatment in the chronically overcrowded A&E.
After details from the internal HSE review were disclosed in the Sunday Independent, Mr Gloster ordered an external investigation led by Mr Justice Clarke.
Two further patient deaths have occurred at UHL since he began his investigation.
A second 16-year-old, Niamh McNally, from Bruff, Co Limerick, died suddenly in the emergency department with breathing difficulties on January 29.
She had initially spent two weeks in hospital with a serious respiratory infection and was discharged on January 23.
She was readmitted to UHL on January 29 but collapsed and died in the emergency department. A preliminary report on the circumstances of Niamh’s death has been completed and given to her family, a source said.
The HSE said this weekend that the Regional Executive Officer is considering all of the available information to decide whether a systems analysis review is needed. Any further decisions will be communicated to the family in due course.
A 33-year-old woman died suddenly on February 18, four days after she was admitted to the hospital feeling unwell during pregnancy.
She was transferred from the maternity hospital to UHL, where her condition deteriorated and she died.
An inquiry is under way into her sudden death. The hospital said it was reviewing the circumstances, and the findings of the review would “inform any future actions”.
UHL has come under political and public pressure over the continuing overcrowding in A&E and over patient safety issues.
The hospital’s emergency department is the only one in the mid-west region, and its catchment area covers Limerick, Cork and Kerry.
Campaigners have called for A&Es in smaller hospitals to be re-opened to ease the overcrowding in Limerick.