Hospital awaits third inquiry into Savita’s death

THE publication of the third inquiry into the death of Savita Halappanavar at University Hospital, Galway (UHG) and other regulatory authorities will determine what action, if any, will be taken against clinicians who were entrusted with her care.

A coroner’s court inquest into the death of Ms Halappanavar has already delivered a verdict of misadventure and concluded it was specifically due to sepsis, e-coli and miscarriage.

An external HSE inquiry found there was a lack of recognition of the gravity of her rare and deteriorating condition, which led to “passive approaches and delays in aggressive treatment”.

Ms Halappanavar was suffering a miscarriage, at 17 weeks pregnant, when she was admitted to the hospital on October 21 last, She died on October 28 from complications as a result of septicaemia.

Galway Roscommon Hospital chief executive officer, Bill Maher told a recent HSE West Forum meeting the outcome of the reports being conducted by the Medical Council, the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland and the third inquiry, the Health and Information Quality Authority (HIQA) is awaited by the hospital.

When all these processes are complete, he pledged the board would consider all information made available to it and take all appropriate measures.

Forum chairman, Councillor Pádraig Conneely had asked what action would be taken by the HSE against clinicians and others over the standard of care provided to Ms Halappanavar as outlined in the independent clinical review and the coroner’s court inquest.

Describing the report as a “disturbing, alarming, damning indictment of the hospital”, he stated according to this inquiry, her care was mismanaged from the day she entered the hospital to the day she died.

Councillor Conneely claimed the responsibility for patients lay with the medics and not the nurses, who were all named during the coroner’s court. “Is there a need to go further when we had eight days of an inquest,” he asked.

He described the care she was subjected to by “highly paid professionals as the hospital” as “outrageous”.

Tony Canavan, general manager of UHG, told the forum the hospital and HSE immediately apologised to Praveen Halappanavar and family “for the events related to his wife’s care that contributed to her tragic death”.

He recalled that the first board meeting of the Galway and Roscommon University Hospital Group after the publication of the report formally adopted a motion expressing an apology and sympathy to Mr Halappanavar.

“The very comprehensive report speaks for itself,” continued Mr Canavan, who admitted it was clear from the report that there were failures in the standard of care provided at UHG.

“The report and media coverage made for difficult reading for all concerned, including our staff, and we continue to offer staff our full support as they work through this difficult process,” he said.

However, he once again reiterated that UHG took immediate action to ensure the implementation of the four interim recommendations provided by the external independent chairperson.

He concluded by asking members not to raise any questions or issues that would impinge on patient privacy or encroach on the work of the regulatory bodies or HIQA.

When asked again by Councillor Conneely if any action would be taken against any clinicians as a result of Ms Halappanavar’s death, Mr Canavan said, “We have co-operated with the coroner, we have co-operated with the HSE, we have co-operated with HIQA and we will co-operate with the regulatory bodies involved.”