The mother of a 12-year-old girl who died after a failure to diagnose a blockage in a shunt in her brain has told a High Court judge her daughter died because doctors would not listen to her.
The court was told Abi McGeough's symptoms were not correctly diagnosed despite five visits to hospital in as many months.
LeslieAnn McGeough from Ballyvolvane in Co Cork said the health system had failed her daughter and said lessons would never be learned if the system continued the way it is.
Ms McGeough told how her daughter Abi had cerebral palsy and spina bifida requiring a shunt to be inserted in her brain at the age of three months.
Her mother had been warned to watch out for symptoms of blockage or malformation as any delay in treatment could be fatal.
In December 2019, she said she knew there was something wrong with the shunt and brought her daughter to Cork University Hospital but was "dismissed".
She said she asked for a second opinion and was referred to Beaumont Hospital where she attended on 27 December 2019.
"They dismissed me as they seemed to rely on what CUH had said," Ms McGeough told the court.
As she broke down in tears in the High Court she said: "Unfortunately my fears of shunt blockage turned out to be true because my darling Abi died of a shunt blockage on May 9th 2020."
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Senior counsel Miriam Reilly told the court liability in the case was admitted relating to the misdiagnosis of symptoms relating to a shunt blockage despite the fact that Abi had been to hospital five times between November 2019 and April 2020.
Ms Reilly said Abi's mother felt the hospitals did not listen to her and she lives with the torment that she should have advocated more for her daughter.
The case against Cork University Hospital and Beaumont Hosptial was settled at the High Court after a letter of apology was read to the family.
In a letter read to the court by Rory White BL, the CEOs of University Hospital Cork and Beaumont Hospital expressed deepest condolences on the tragic death of Abigail.
The letter continued: "We are deeply sorry for the distress, suffering and loss you have endured and continue to endure since Abigail’s death."
It thanked LeslieAnn for participating in the mediation process towards a settlement of the case.
"While the legal aspect is concluded we will reflect on the events of each of Abigail’s final attendances in our hospitals and work with the risk management teams to learn and improve our practise in every aspect warranted.
"As part of our commitment to honouring your daughter's memory we've contributed to the memorial which we understand grows in her name.
"We hope that this gesture provides the necessary resources to ensure the enduring presence of the memorial which we understand services a lasting tribute to Abigail’s life.
"We hope that this letter acknowledges the upset and distress you have experienced and does not cause any further for you."
Afterwards, LeslieAnn McGeough said liability had not been admitted in the case until August last year, over four years after Abi’s death and it was only through taking the legal proceedings and getting independent expert reports that she was able to find out the truth about what caused Abi’s death.
She added: "This is no way to run a health system. The truth should always come out when adverse events occur, not for the purposes of punishing but rather to prevent such a further tragedy occurring again."
"The health system seriously failed Abi causing her death," she said, adding that she was concerned that lessons have not been learnt in her case.
"I think it would also be useful for the Minister for Health to look back at cases of the last three years that have been settled in the courts and see how many of those were investigated by the hospitals in question and what was the outcome of those investigations and what lessons were learnt by the hospitals.
"Our family tree has been broken never to be repaired. Abi has missed out on so much in life including her much longed for cousins and her many hopes and plans for her future. Every day we grieve for Abi.
"We feel her loss every minute of every day and we will now always have a piece of us missing."
Approving the settlement including the division of the statutory mental distress payment of €35,000, Mr Justice Coffey extended his deepest sympathy to Abi’s mother and the extended family.
