Report on Savita to miss deadline

The HSE report into the death of Savita Halappanavar is unlikely to be published until the middle of February — but is in its final editing stage.

Sources close to the process said the situation means the January deadline set by James Reilly, the health minister, will not be met. Those involved have said the report has met previous timelines, with Dr Reilly receiving the interim document he said should be given to him before Christmas on time.

The public deadlines set by Dr Reilly do not mean a number of practical issues can be avoided.

These include the fact individuals interviewed for the HSE report have a right to see how the information they supplied was used, before publication.

This leaves open the possibility of further edits should legal differences between interviewees and the report team occur.

It is a form of due process common in most state reports of this nature, with the document understood to currently be at this stage.

The report was re-labelled as a “clinical review” after Ms Halappanavar’s husband, Praveen, refused to take part and claimed officials could not begin the previously described “investigation” into her medical records without his permission.

It is one of two inquiries taking place into what happened at Galway University Hospital in October.

Mr Halappanavar — who is attempting to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights — has also declined to take part in the second investigation by the Health Information Quality Authority.

However, he has stressed this is for different reasons than his personal view — disputed by senior health service officials — that the HSE report risks being biased.

A HSE spokesperson said: “The work of the investigation team is well advanced and it is anticipated that their report will be completed early in 2013.”

A separate coroner’s court inquest into the death — which can only state the medical condition which caused the death, not clarify the situation which led to it — will begin next Thursday, Jan 18, at Galway courthouse.

The full inquest will not take place until March.