Meadhbh’s transplant hopes dashed by lack of agency with sole responsibility

THE failure to arrange a flight in time to bring Leitrim teenager Meadhbh McGivern to London for a life-saving liver transplant operation was primarily due to the absence of a single co-ordinating agency or individual with overall charge of the patient’s transport arrangements.

A Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) report into the incident claimed there was no evidence of any checklists by any of the agencies involved in making the transport arrangements.

The report states each of the various agencies had relied on the experience of individual staff members in a process that was “inherently risky and logistically challenging”.