Clare’s Government TD claims the findings of the Clarke Report have copperfastened the need for the expedited delivery of a new Emergency Department in Ennis.
It comes as the latest report into the death of Shannon Teenager Aoife Johnston at University Hospital Limerick has determined the circumstances in which she died were “almost certainly avoidable”.
The fundamental issue according to the former Justice Clarke’s report was the delay in treatment provided to Aoife Johnston.
The Shannon teenager presented at ED at 17:39pm on Friday, December 17th with a letter from an out of hours GP service querying sepsis, but would not receive the appropriate medication for another 12 hours.
National Sepsis guidelines stipulate that treatment should take place within an hour, at this point Aoife had just been triaged and upon triage, Aoife was sent to Zone A of the Emergency Department, where sepsis forms were not kept.
This was due to the “grossly overcrowded” nature of the Resus area, and according to Justice Clarke this “undoubtedly contributed to the fact that it appears that none of the nurses or doctors in Zone A were aware of Aoife’s condition.
Ennistymon-based MidWest Hospital Campaign Spokesperson, Marie McMahon, whose husband Tommy Wynne passed away after waiting 36 hours on a trolley at UHL in 2018, feels elected representatives have failed to learn lessons from consistently poor patient outcomes at Dooradoyle and says a new Emergency Department in Ennis is desperately needed.
You can listen to the full interview here:
On the night of December 17th, there were 191 patients in attendance at the ED, who were looked after by just 19 staff nurses and one clinical nurse manager, with breaks covered by nurses not trained in emergency medicine.
In Zone A, where Aoife was originally sent, there were 67 patients who were tended to by just 4 nurses.
Justice Clarke concluded in his report that unless bed capacity is addressed at UHL, the ED will regularly be under pressure and the risk of re-occurrence will inevitably be present.
The investigation also referenced the 2008 Horwath Report, which paved the way for the closure of the A&Es at Ennis, Nenagh and St.John’s in favour of a centre of excellence with increased inpatient bed capacity at UHL.
Justice Clarke noted these beds did not materialise and led to clear consequent pressure at UHL and although a HIQA review is underway to determine if another ED is needed in the region, the results are not expected until next summer.
Clare Fianna Fáil TD Cathal Crowe, who’s a member of the Oireachtas Health Committee believes the people of the MidWest will remain second class citizens until a new ED is provided in Ennis, and he says the findings of the Clarke report copperfasten the need for this process to be expedited.
You can listen to the full interview here:
Meanwhile, the solicitor for the family of Aoife Johnston says they’re still waiting for answers.
Six people are facing a disciplinary process, but their identities have not been revealed.
The Johnston’s solicitor, Damien Tansey says there were flaws with the independent investigation.
