Tag Archives: Nicole Norton

COUNCILLOR Ann Norton still feels sick in her stomach seven years after recalling a “horrendous” experience in University Hospital Limerick when a Do Not Attempt Resuscitation (DNAR) was allegedly placed on her daughter’s medical file without their consent. While Nicole Norton (25), who is a wheelchair user with Cerebral Palsy, is still very distressed over this incident, she felt strongly this had to be challenged to ensure no other vulnerable patient or family will experience what she and her mother went through in UHL back in April 2016. A hospital consultant appeared before a medical inquiry over his direction that Nicole Norton did not have the capacity to decide herself if she should be resuscitated in the event of a cardiac arrest. Dr Hassan Zaid was accused of poor professional performance at Irish Medical Council’s (IMC) fitness-to-practise committee following two separate complaints submitted by Ann and Nicole within weeks of this “distressing” incident. Following a screening process, the IMC decided …

The lack of capacity at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) came into focus this week, after it emerged there was no bed to accommodate an Ennis patient in a wheelchair. Councillor Ann Norton has confirmed that there was no bed available to accommodate her daughter, Nicole, who suffers from Cerebal Palsy and a number of other medical conditions, when she attended the new Emergency Department (ED) on Thursday last. With 51 patients on trolleys in the new €24 million state-of-the-art ED at UHL on Tuesday morning, councillors from Clare and Limerick tabled numerous related motions about overcrowding and bed capacity at UHL at a HSE West Forum meeting later that afternoon. In recent days, the UL Hospitals Group outlined that activity has been very high, with 186 attendances in the 24 hours up to midnight on Sunday, September 24; 244 attendances in the 24 hours up to midnight on Monday, September 25 and 214 attendances in the 24 hours up to …

A LOCAL woman has questioned if the HSE believes the health and life of her daughter is “worth more than €600”, following a traumatic experience. Nicole Norton (19), who suffers from Cerebral Palsy, requires intrathecal baclofen therapy (IBT) to prevent her from going into possible spasm, internal organ and heart failure. In an interview with The Clare Champion, her mother, Ann Norton, said she got a phonecall from a senior clinician on Wednesday of last week informing her that the HSE would no longer pay for the cost of refilling this pump because it is too expensive. It costs about €600 to provide medication for the pump every five or six weeks. Ms Norton said she was told the medication for the pump is “not being released from the pharmacy due to the cost”. “I felt sick in my stomach that the HSE would put Nicole’s life at risk for the sake of €600.” Councillor Norton said if Nicole goes into …

A new HSE plan to restructure children’s disability services has been challenged by the head of a local therapy centre, as the number of children with special needs receiving treatment almost doubled to 400 in the last 12 months. The HSE is planning to roll-out early intervention teams to all parts of the country for children with special needs, on the basis that it has proven successful in areas like the Mid-West. It insists its new strategy is based on recommendations in the Report of the National Reference Group on Multidisciplinary Services for Children Aged Five to 18 Years. The Clare Champion submitted a number of queries to the national HSE, which hadn’t been responded to at the time of going to press. Clare Crusaders’ Clinic managing director, Ann Norton, has claimed this strategy flies in the face of growing waiting lists and the fact that the number of Clare children with special needs attending the centre has jumped from …

A CLARE  teenager with cerebral palsy will brave the pain barrier this weekend when she is pushed 50km in a loop from Lahinch to Ennistymon, Kilshanny, Lisdoonvarna, Doolin, down by the Cliffs of Moher, Liscannor and back to Lahinch. Nicole Norton has convinced over 100 of her transition-year peers, plus teachers, from around the county, to push her along the challenging, undulating route in West Clare to raise awareness and funds for the Clare Crusaders centre, which was founded by her mother, Ann. The push was launched this week at Shannon Airport and will take place on Saturday, just five months after the St Flannan’s College student underwent severe and potentially life-threatening spinal surgery at Temple Street hospital. Nicole will forgo her specially-designed motorised chair for a wheelchair, pushed in relay groups comprising teachers and fellow transition-year students from her own school, St Flannan’s College, as well as from Rice College, Ennis; Colaiste Muire, Ennis; Scoil Mhuire, Ennistymon; Kilmihil Community …

Transition-year (TY) students are rallying behind a Barefield teenager with Cerebral Palsy to complete a 50-kilometre wheelchair push through picturesque parts of North Clare. Nicole Norton, who is a transition-year student at St Flannan’s College, Ennis, has organised a unique fundraising initiative in aid of Clare Crusaders’ Clinic, where her mother, Ann, is managing director. Although Nicole is confined to a wheelchair, she likes to do things herself and is anxious to raise some money for the clinic, which she attends for treatment on a regular basis. The TY 100 Wheelchair Push is a one-day, 50-kilometre wheelchair push and walk, whereby Nicole, accompanied by her fellow transition-year students from schools across the county, will be pushed along the scenic wild Atlantic Way on Saturday, May 3. Starting in Lahinch, the group will make their way to Ennistymon on to Lisdoonvarna, Doolin, the Cliffs of Moher and Liscannor, before finishing in Lahinch. Throughout the walk, Nicole and her fellow students will …