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.

Eirin needs up to 45 syringes and 18 boxes of medication a day. Her pain is so severe that, for the last six weeks, she has been receiving palliative care at Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children, where she is dosed with morphine. Even then, the pain is so excruciating Eirin is self-harming, banging her head off objects in the hope that it will dull the pain.

In tears as she spoke on RTÉ’s Liveline last Friday, Lydia said, even with the help of a medical card, the family have substantial debt and have sought help from the Department of Social Protection’s hardship fund.

“Life is hard enough for poor oul’ Eirin as it is, and this is after tipping me over,” said Lydia. “There is no way I can leave this hospital with all those bills. It will cost hundreds a week on medication. One box of tablets alone costs €70. We don’t get allowances for anything.

“If they take the medical card off Eirin, they will take it off everyone.

“You can’t get any sicker than my Eirin.”