The family of 16-year-old Aoife Johnston, who died at University Hospital Limerick in December 2022, are demanding the immediate publication of a major report into her death.
The schoolgirl from Shannon in Co Clare died of meningitis after she was referred to the hospital's overcrowded Emergency Department with suspected sepsis that went untreated for over 12 hours.
Two months on from the completion of an investigation into her death, conducted by former Chief Justice Frank Clarke, the Johnston family have expressed deep disappointment at the report they have been given, accusing the HSE of failing them and their late daughter again.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Drivetime, the family's solicitor, Damien Tansey, said the Johnston's consider the Clarke report as "utterly superficial".
Mr Tansey said that from the outset of the unpublished report, "it appears that the investigator, the former Chief Justice Clarke had a meeting with a senior counsel appointed by Mr [Bernard] Gloster" the HSE Chief Executive, indicating that there were "significant limitations and restrictions" on Mr Clarke’s mandate.
He went on to say these included "an inability for Mr Clarke to make findings of fact", or to make "adverse findings".
"As the Johnston family see it," Mr Tansey said, "the State have failed them under two headings" namely the "monumental failings" in the manner in which their daughter was looked after at University Hospital Limerick, "the centre of excellence for the Midwest region"; and under the heading of the Clarke investigation as they expected it would have been able to make adverse findings and to have "resolved conflict where it arose" in the accounts they have been given regarding their daughter’s case.
Calling for immediate publication of the Clarke report without redactions, Mr Tansey said the Johnston family have written to the HSE Chief Executive to issue an ultimatum that the family will make the report they have been given public if the HSE does not.
Mr Tansey said Taoiseach Simon Harris and Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly have also been copied on their correspondence with the HSE, as both the minister and the Taoiseach had met with Aoife's parents and expressed an interest in her tragic case which is still "very much in the minds of the public".
The Irish Hospital Consultants' Association has also called for publication of the Clarke report.
An IHCA spokesperson said: "It is our understanding that the independent report undertaken by Justice Clarke has been completed. Its full publication, in consultation with the Johnston family, is an important next step."
Their calls come amid reports of possible disciplinary proceedings involving a number of senior management figures at the University of Limerick Hospital Group.
Asked if full publication of the Clarke report now might compromise or prejudice those proceedings, Mr Tansey said "if disciplinary proceedings are set in train against specific individuals in relation to their role in this tragedy", he has "no doubt that due process and fair procedures will be followed" in the conduct of those proceedings.
He said given this, he cannot understand the hesitancy of the HSE to publish this report or why Mr Clarke "was precluded" from making adverse findings, quoting the terms of reference of his inquiry which state the "report of the Independent Investigator may be used to support, and relied upon in, further processes, e.g. a complaint, an investigation under a HR procedure, or for the establishment, exercise or defence of a legal claim".
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The University of Limerick Hospital Group and the HSE have previously apologised publicly to the Johnston family, with Mr Gloster expressing "heartfelt sympathy to Aoife’s family and friends for the pain and suffering" they experienced because of Aoife’s "unnecessary death while in our care".
Regarding the Johnston family’s calls through their solicitor for immediate publication of the Clarke report, the HSE has said it has communicated with Mr Tansey on a number of occasions, and Mr Gloster has extended an invitation to meet Mr Tansey and the family following the conclusion of the Clarke investigation, and to discuss the issue of publication of the report.
This invitation remains open.
The HSE said Mr Gloster has committed to publish the report of Mr Clarke in an appropriate format - which must take into account the HSE’s obligations to all parties involved and must respect the personal and sensitive data contained in the report.
It said Mr Gloster will continue to act in the public interest and publish the report later this month in a responsible and lawful format.
The HSE has urged Mr Tansey in correspondence not to publish the report, and supplied it to him on the basis that it would not be published.
It said Mr Gloster is involved in a very detailed process of acting on the report and on the issues arising from Aoife's death, and has been clear on the public record to that effect.
It is the view of the HSE that the report is in full compliance with its published terms of reference.
"We would sincerely urge Mr Tansey to engage with us to discuss the publication of the report," the HSE added.
A spokesperson for the Department said Minister Donnelly "supports the process put in place by the HSE CEO following from the Mr Justice Clarke report".
