A solicitor representing a family in Co Sligo, whose 12-year-old son died after failings in his care, has urged people to "listen to parents" because they know their children best.
Roger Murray, of Callan Tansey Solicitors, said recommendations in relation to the treatment of Nicholas Power were not followed through on.
Nicholas was born with a rare heart condition and died after contracting sepsis in March 2023.
Management at Sligo University Hospital issued an apology to Nicholas' parents, Peter and Alice Power, at an inquest at Sligo Courthouse yesterday.
Mr Murray said he was repeating a message from Nicholas's parents, at their request, following the inquest yesterday.
In a statement today, the HSE in the northwest said that while no word of apology could ease the family’s profound loss, it is committed to ensuring that a similar situation does not arise again.
Nicholas’s heart condition, 3Q duplication syndrome, was very rare and there are around 50 known cases of it in the world.
This meant that he was well known to Children's Health Ireland (CHI) at Crumlin, having had as many as 19 operations there during the first three years of his life.
Mr Murray said that CHI Crumlin had been very happy with his progress.
Speaking on RTÉ News at One, he said that a request by Nicholas’s parents for him to be transferred to Crumlin should have been acted on much earlier.
"It has to be said in Nicholas's treatment, it recommends and advises that the team in Crumlin should be contacted and that it would be prudent for the team in Sligo, the paediatric team to contact Crumlin to inform them of Nicholas's admission and seek further guidance because of his complex cardiac history and the other issues that he had," he said.
"That recommendation was made at about 8pm on 26 March, and sadly it wasn't followed through on at the time and Crumlin weren't contacted for over 12 hours later, that is at 9.30am on the 27 March," Mr Murray added.
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"Sadly, the family say this was too late for Nicholas. He continued to go downhill and he died in the afternoon in Sligo on 27 March without the transfer having taken place."
Mr Murray said that Nicholas’s family felt that they were ignored in their request for him to be transferred to CHI Crumlin.
"She (Nicholas’s mother Alice) said that she, on the Saturday, that is 25 March in the afternoon, and again in the morning on 26 March, raised this issue with one of the senior paediatricians," he said.
"She said that her view was that Nicholas did need to go to Crumlin, or that Crumlin should be contacted, and her evidence was that she was ignored.
"The doctor to whom she spoke said he didn't recall this particular exchange, but Alice was very, very clear in relation to her testimony."
'Listen to the parents'
Mr Murray said there were a number of issues not followed through on following Nicholas’s admission to Sligo University Hospital.
"When he was admitted on 25 March, he was triaged about 3.30pm, and it was evident that he had an infective process going on," he said.
"He had a chest x-ray done, and that showed the collection of fluid in his chest.
"At that stage, a sepsis form later on 25 March, was partially completed by a doctor, but not signed and that particular thread wasn't followed.
"His early warning scores ... anything over six or seven is alarming and is supposed to trigger certain mandated responses, including senior review and continuous monitoring.
"Unfortunately, with Nicholas, his scores were into the teens, way, way higher than they should have been.
"Unfortunately, the parameters that were set in terms of the response, the family say weren't adequate."
Mr Murray said that Nicholas’s parents had four brief messages they wanted to relay to others, and that were issued at the inquest in Sligo yesterday.
"Alice gave very harrowing and powerful and articulated evidence yesterday, which really resonated with everyone there, parents in particular," he said.
"In speaking to her today and this morning, just checking in ... she asked me to repeat the four messages that she gave before the inquest yesterday.
"The first is listen to the parents. They know the child best. Second, get outside help early. Consider transfer, and don't treat every child the same," Mr Murray said.
He added: "These were the messages that she delivered very eloquently and powerfully yesterday and that she and her husband Peter have asked me to repeat today again."
