A mother whose daughter died at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) after spending 17 hours on a trolley, today called on the government to “intervene” to tackle chronic overcrowding at the hospital.
Melanie Sheehan, whose daughter Eve Cleary (21) died in UHL in 2019, said she will “never again” bring any of her remaining five children to the Limerick ED.
Record high levels of overcrowding in the hospital last Monday led to management declaring a major emergency in the ED where 170 patients waited for treatment.
Ms Sheehan’s late daughter’s trolley was located next to a sink which had been used as a toilet by another patient.
She said it appeared “nothing has changed” at the ED since her daughter’s death three years ago.
“When you are just hours away from death, which was the reality of Eve’s case, there was no blanket or pillow for her in the ED. I dread to think about elderly patients left there,” said Ms Sheehan.
“I understand there are a shortage of beds, but this is happening time and time again, year, after year, after year.”
Her clear message to the government is: “Listen to us here in Limerick and intervene to do something to stop anybody else dying.”
“These are our children and our parents that go out there, but I will never give UHL one of my children ever again to look after, because I trusted them to look after Eve, and I believed them when they said she was ok - but she wasn’t.”
“I would rather bring them to Galway if I have to. Why are the government not intervening?”
“It’s now 2023 and how people are left in those conditions is beyond me - what the hell is going on out there? Why aren’t politicians screaming for us here in Limerick, and why is it up to the victims of UHL to always shout about it - that is what I refer to our family - we are victims of them (UHL).”
“Enough is enough now, this has to end.”
Ms Sheehan said when she heard about the death of UHL patient Aoife Johnston (16) on December 19th last after the teenager reportedly had spent up to 16 hours on a trolley in the Limerick ED, it felt like she had received “a kick in my stomach”.
“When I heard about it, I thought ‘oh my god’, it literally broke me - to think that another mother and siblings and her poor dad are walking now in the same path we have to walk - it’s horrific,” Ms Sheehan offered.
The Taoiseach Leo Varadkar welcomed confirmation from the UL Hospitals Group that an inquiry into Ms Johnston’s death will take place and that it will be chaired by someone who is external to the hospital group.
However, Ms Sheehan, speaking generally, said she believed the health authorities “have learned nothing from Eve’s death”.
Ms Sheehan helps voluntarily run the Mid-West Hospital Campaign, which set up a social media platform to get support to “improve our hospital service”.
“Eve’s death will be with us for the rest of our lives, and this is why I am involved in the hospital campaign, so that I feel like I am doing something to make sure Eve is not forgotten.”
“We see her friends and we wonder about Eve, and I’ll never see her get married or have children, it literally guts me.”
She acknowledged a lack of beds and staff at UHL are big factors in the hospital overcrowding crisis, but she argues that the HSE and government have known about the issues for years.
“The conditions in there are unsafe. They knew the winter surge was coming but this isn't just a winter problem. When Eve was there three years ago the trolleys were backed up in the ED, and you could not walk between them.”
“There was a man on a trolley behind Eve, and he was bleeding out of his nose and Eve was getting me to help him to get to the bathroom because she couldn't get up, and there was no one to help, the patients were literally cramped in together.”
“I spoke to HIQA (Health Information and Equality Authority - hospitals watchdog in February last year about Eve and they were horrified that she wasn’t even offered a blanket, a pillow or a cup of tea while she was in there.”
Ms Sheehan and her legal representatives have lodged civil proceedings against the HSE in respect of Eve’s death, however a date for the hearing has yet to be confirmed.
A verdict of medical misadventure was recorded at Eve’s inquest which was held in 2021.
The inquest heard she died at UHL on July 21, 2019 after she was rushed there by ambulance from her family home only a few hours after she had been discharged with blood clots, but staff were not aware of the severity of her condition.
She presented at the hospital in cardiac arrest and with a swollen leg.
She had first presented at UHL on July 19th with her swollen leg, as well as a number of risk factors for thrombosis and a family history of blood clots.
She spent 17 hours on a trolley in the ED before getting a bed on a ward.
The inquest herald UHL was operating with a skeletal staff on a day of record-high overcrowding in the ED and there were no staff to operate the hospital’s ultrasound equipment.
Eve was not assessed for risk of blood clots and she was not seen by a consultant, although a CT scan of her swollen leg, which the inquest heard found no fracture or abnormalities, was seen by an on-call consultant orthopedic doctor.
Eve was discharged with suspected soft tissue damage to her leg on a wheelchair as she could not walk such was her pain level.
Four hours later she suffered cardiac arrest at her home, her father Barry Cleary and paramedics performed CPR in a desperate attempt to save her.
A post mortem found her death was caused due to cardiac arrest due to extensive bilateral thrombo-embolisation or clots that had blocked up her lungs.
Coroner John McNamara said there were “missed opportunities” in Eve’s case but he stressed this was not to fault anyone involved in her care.
Mr McNamara said he accepted Eve’s parents “harrowing evidence” about the conditions in the ED.
Ms Sheehan urged people to attend a demonstration march organised for 11am in Limerick City on January 21st to highlight overcrowding at UHL.
“Every person in the mid west region should be standing up and say this is wrong - we need better healthcare, we all deserve better,” she said.
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