A doctor who treated Aoife Johnston at University Hospital Limerick has cried at the inquest into her death saying the facility was “not a safe environment.”
The 16-year-old died at UHL in 2022 after contracting sepsis.
Dr Leandri Card told the inquest she was trying to manage 191 patients in the emergency department on her own – and said she and nurses were “overwhelmed” on the night Aoife Johnston presented to University Hospital Limerick.
She said every inch of floor space was taken up by patients and trolleys, while she described it to be “like a war-zone” and an “impossible situation”.
Dr Card told the inquest she and other doctors routinely prescribed patients medication in the ED without examining them, and agreed with the solicitor representing the Johnston family that this wasn’t best practice.
In her evidence, Dr Card said the death of Aoife Johnston has had a severely emotional impact on her – and led to her quitting the HSE, and has not worked in an emergency department since.
Yesterday, the hearings heard emotional and harrowing evidence from Aoife’s parents James and Carol – who said they continually begged for help – and said they watched their daughter die, saying its something they wouldn’t wish on anyone.
