HSE apologises to Clare family whose baby girl was delivered stillborn
The Health Service Executive has formally apologised to the family of a baby girl who was delivered stillborn at University Maternity Hospital Limerick more than 15 years ago.
Rebecca Collins, of Carrigaholt, County Clare, had initiated a court action against the HSE for negligence and breach of its duty of care after she was admitted to the hospital in December 2007.
A settlement was approved by the High Court this Wednesday morning.
HOMS Assist, the Limerick-based law firm which represented Ms Collins, has welcomed the settlement agreement.
It says the ruling is further evidence of the urgent need for mandatory disclosure of medical negligence and for the Patient Safety Bill to be passed and enacted into law as quickly as possible.
The company says the High Court ruling, the six-figure HSE settlement, the HSE's admission of liability and the public apology all give some final closure to Ms Collins who hopes no other victims of medical negligence will have to endure further hardship to find answers.
Ms Collins’ daughter died as a result of a ‘true knot’ in her umbilical cord and it was only by chance, 10 years later, that she learned that her CTGs (Cardiotocography) had not been appropriately read at the hospital which was then known as St Munchin’s Maternity Hospital.
This led to a failure to identify and proactively manage the life-threatening risk to Ms Collins's baby.
“I should have left the hospital in a haze of love and excitement with my little bundle of joy - my little girl Hannah who would turn 16 this year. Instead I left the hospital knowing my beautiful girl who I carried for nine months never got the chance to breathe life. That feeling of emptiness, immense loss and pain and a lack of understanding still haunts me to this day,” said Rebecca Collins.
The Patient Safety Bill, which passed report stage in the Dáil last month and which is now going through the Seanad for further scrutiny, will require disclosures of any serious patient safety incidents, where any unintended or unanticipated injury or harm has occurred, as soon as reasonably practicable.
Rachael O’Shaughnessy, Partner with Homs Assist has welcomed the High Court settlement.
"While a long-awaited milestone was celebrated to see the Patient Safety Bill pass the report stage last month, we still need to see it move forward swiftly to become law. Cases such as this highlight the real and urgent need for the Bill to be enacted. Sadly, this case also serves as a shocking reminder to patients to ask and keep asking the difficult questions in relation to patient care particularly if it involved the death or injury of a loved one.
“Rebecca has fought this case with great dignity so that her daughter’s death was not in vain. I’m honoured to have been able to support her and while we welcome the settlement, I know that no amount of money could ever compensate for Hannah’s life which is gone forever - laughter that will never be heard and a daughter who will be forever loved and missed.”
Admitting liability and a failure in its duty of candor, in an apology read to the court today, a spokesperson for the HSE said:
“The willingness of the family to share their experience was invaluable to allowing this investigation to learn from their experience and in helping to make recommendations to improve the systems and processes in place.
“The Maternity Hospital and the HSE confirms that they are committed to ensuring that the recommendations identified by this investigation report are implemented as a matter of urgency.”