Tragic Frances: Second hospital inspection

A team of medical professionals will make a second inspection of Cavan General Hospital to ensure problems have been addressed, it was confirmed tonight.

Dr John Hillery said members of the Irish Medical Council would make another trip to the hospital in December or January.

The IMC first travelled to the hospital on July 21 last after safety worries arose from the death in February of nine-year-old Frances Sheridan, three weeks after an appendix operation.

At the IMC’s monthly meeting, the president Dr Hillery, said: “We plan to visit again in December or January to meet with the medical board, there seems to have been headway made as regards extra appointments.”

After the last hospital visit the IMC team said there were resource problems in terms of extra staffing and beds but they had been reassured about patient safety.

The president said the council, the governing body for doctors in Ireland, had discussed the visit to the hospital and he felt there had been “significant progress made”.

A post-mortem showed Frances, from Cootehill in Cavan, had died from complications of surgery.

The nine-year-old had begun having abdominal pain several weeks after surgery and had been brought back to the hospital with a note from her general practitioner.

Two junior accident and emergency doctors at Cavan saw the child, believed it was a stomach bug and sent her home. She died 36-hours later, without the on-call surgical team seeing the GP’s explanatory note.

Dr Hillery also said an amendment Bill to the out-dated 1978 Medical Practitioners Act would probably be introduced early next year.

The council recently met the Health Department, now headed by Tanaiste Mary Harney, to discuss the new Bill.

Dr Hillery said they had brought up issues such as investigating officers, who would examine in detail problems with doctors before they reached the stage of the Fitness to Practice Committee.

The proposed new legislation will make it an offence to pretend to be a registered medical practitioner and to carry out treatment that should only be performed by a qualified person.

Vice-president Dr Colm Quigley said: “We would be anxious that we don’t have a continuation of the status that arises from the 1978 Act.”

The Bill will outline the council’s role as a protector of the public and expand the IMC to include more non-medical representatives.

Dr Hillery said: “We are delighted there are going to be a greater lay representation.”

He said the IMC had decided that he would travel around the country to get the views of medical practitioners on what the new Act should include.

Dr Quigley said the extra number of board members would help divide the large volume of work to be done.

The council said it would be undertaking a survey to find out the public and medical professionals perceptions of the IMC.