Early in his career, Séamus O’Reilly applied for a post from which the previous incumbent had been fired, after a chemotherapy overdose left one woman dead and another with irreversible heart damage. He didn’t end up in the job but remained interested in how the hospital responded to its mistakes. One key measure was the establishment of Patient Family Advisory Committees. Professor O’Reilly tells Health Correspondent Catherine Shanahan that the time is ripe to consider a similar move here, in light of the CervicalCheck scandal.

A six-year-old girl developed severe brain damage within hours of being admitted to the emergency department at Galway University Hospital suffering from low blood sugar, an inquest has heard.