Report highlights IVF treatment 'problems'

A lack of senior control over the hospital care of a young nurse undergoing IVF treatment before she died was highlighted in an official report published today.

The investigation followed a long fight by Jacqui Rushton’s family for the truth about what happened to her in a Dublin hospital.

The 32-year-old woman was undergoing treatment to have a baby with her husband Danny when her ovaries overreacted, flooding her body, before she died in January 2003.

A Health Service Executive (HSE) inquiry by two England-based senior medics concluded there were problems in the management of Mrs Rushton’s care at the Rotunda Hospital in central Dublin.

It also found evidence of a lack of senior control over and overall accountability for her care as well as inconsistent compliance with official guidelines for treating her condition.

The probe concluded it is probable that appropriate and early management of Mrs Rushton’s condition would have prevented the severe breathing difficulties that killed her.

Mrs Rushton’s family, who claim to have been met with a wall of silence from the medical profession when seeking answers about the case, believe she would still be alive today if proper procedures had been followed.

“Because we have persisted in this for four and half years and we’ve got this far, we’ve got this report that maybe will save somebody else’s life,” said her mother Angela Hickey, from Raheny, Dublin.

“It’s too late for Jacqui, unfortunately. We’ll never get her back and we’ll never see her again.”

Mrs Rushton died of acute respiratory distress syndrome, a rare complication of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS), after IVF treatment at the Rotunda’s Human Assisted Reproduction Ireland (HARI) unit.

The HSE said it is taking immediate steps to ensure that all of the recommendations in the report are implemented across its hospitals.

“It is very important for us to learn from this tragic event,” said the HSE’s Dr Mary Hynes.

While the Rotunda Hospital said it accepted the recommendations it insisted Mrs Rushton was seen on a daily basis during her condition by experienced medical staff.

“The external review was conducted by individuals from the UK,” remarked the hospital’s master, Dr Michael Geary.

“While the Irish system might significantly differ from the British one, at all times the consultant team, the master, and ultimately the board, are accountable for the care of all patients in the care of the Rotunda Hospital.”

Mrs Rushton was transferred to the Mater Hospital nine days before Christmas in 2002 after it was found she was overreacting to treatment at the Rotunda’s HARI unit.

She developed severe OHSS but despite appearing to make a recovery a week later she then collapsed and was put on a ventilator which was switched off on January 14, 2003.

“I knew she wasn’t being looked after in the Rotunda and as a mother I didn’t get in to see her until the Wednesday following the Sunday her eggs were harvested,” said Mrs Hickey.

“I knew by looking at her that she was severely ill and I really felt that she was going to die. I had that feeling all along and unfortunately I was right.”

The family said they have instructed their lawyers to drop legal proceedings because they were satisfied with the outcome of the report.

“This was never about compensation, it was purely about getting the truth and we feel we’ve got the truth from this,” said Mrs Rushton’s sister, Colette Vincent.

Stephen McMahon, of the Irish Patient Association, said the case highlighted questions about the health service’s approach to patient care and investigations.

“Why is it that for a patient to lose their life or be seriously injured is the price to improve the quality of care in our health system so many times?” he asked.

“Why isn’t it simply normal practice when a family have experienced such a loss that the system can’t provide a comprehensive review and information to those patients or their families?”