Fears have been expressed that lives may have been lost at the region’s main hospital because of the slow pace in carrying out an investigation into superbugs.
Details of an external review carried out by a UK expert have emerged, which reveal that superbugs may have been an ‘associative factor’ in a number of deaths at University Hospital Limerick.
It’s found that while no deaths were a direct result of the CPE bug, it may have been a factor in the deaths of seven patients aged in their 50s to 80s between 2009 and 2017.
The UL Hospitals Group says its in the process of contacting families and it’s regrettable that sensitive and confidential information has been leaked to the press.
Independent Councillor James Breen, who contracted the MRSA virus outside of hospital in 2005, says he called on the HSE and the Health Minister to carry out an investigation into superbugs two years ago.
He’s been telling Clare FM’s James Mulhall that the report’s findings are unacceptable:
UL Hospitals Group Response:
UL Hospitals Group has conducted two reviews into the deaths of patients between February 2009 and May 2017 where these patients were known to have died since acquisition of the multidrug-resistant organism CPE.
An internal review commissioned by UL Hospitals Group commenced in September 2017 and was followed by an external review carried out by Dr Robert C Spencer, an eminent British consultant medical microbiologist, in October 2017.
The conclusion of the external review, which UL Hospitals Group has accepted, was that no deaths were a direct result of CPE acquisition; however a small number of patients died where CPE may have been an associative factor in their deaths.
UL Hospitals Group is in the process of informing the next-of-kin of all patients involved in the review. Given that this was a historical review, the contact process has been protracted. However we expect it to be completed in the coming weeks.
It would be inappropriate for UL Hospitals Group to comment further until this important Open Disclosure process with family members has been concluded. We expect to publish the review findings in early October.
Please note that UL Hospitals Group has never commented on the findings of either the internal or external reviews as we are committed to first informing the next-of-kin.
Prof Paul Burke, Chief Clinical Director, UL Hospitals Group, commented: “It is regrettable that sensitive and confidential information of this nature has been leaked to the press in advance of publication of the review. We will be happy to answer all queries from the media upon publication of the review but our current priority is the ongoing communications with next-of-kin”.
Additional comment September 20th
“We appeal to persons of influence in the media and in public life to refrain from speculating on what may or may not be in the report in advance of its publication and to respect the ongoing communication process with the next-of-kin.”
