The Health Service Executive has apologised to the family of a nine year old girl who died hours after being sent home from Cavan General Hospital.
Today in the High Court, the HSE acknowledged that the care given to given to Frances Sheridan, who died in 2004, was inadequate and has agreed to pay undisclosed damages to her family.
Frances Sheridan died on the floor of her home in Cootehill, cradled in her mother’s arms on the morning of 1 February 2004.
Just 36 hours earlier she had been discharged from Cavan General Hospital having gone there complaining of severe abdominal pains.
She and her parents were told it was probably a tummy bug and sent home.
A post mortem examination concluded that the nine-year-old had suffered post operative complications following the removal of her appendix three weeks earlier. A simple procedure would have rectified the problem.
An internal inquiry by the then North Eastern Health Board concluded that had some doctors in the A&E Department talked to colleagues in the Surgical Department when Frances arrived, her chances of survival would have been greatly increased.
Her parents, Brian and Rosemary Sheridan from New Line in Cootehill, settled their High Court action against the HSE over Frances' death. The terms of the settlement were not made public.
The HSE and Cavan General Hospital apologised to the Sheridan family for their failings, which resulted in their daughter's death.
Mr Justice John Quirke also expressed his sympathy to the family on what he described as a terrible tragedy which should never have happened.
