HSE apologises for Eirin’s medical card ‘error’

Five days after they told the mother of a seriously disabled child who lives with chronic pain that she wasn’t entitled to a medical card, the HSE has admitted to making an “administrative error” as they lost the eight-year-old’s medical records.

The HSE contacted the family of Eirin O’Connor-Nolan yesterday to say they were “unreservedly sorry” about the mishap, that she was entitled to free GP care and medication and that the problem had arisen as her files had never been transferred to Dublin when the HSE changed office.

However, Eirin’s mother, Lydia wants James Reilly to publicly apologise for the stress and panic created by the letter she received last Friday. “The man who called us today said he couldn’t apologise enough for what had happened. But I want James Reilly or whoever is responsible to publicly apologise to Eirin for the distress this has caused,” she said.