'I thought my daughter's death would improve A&E overcrowding —  I was wrong', says Limerick mother

Melanie Cleary and Barry Cleary, parents of Eve Cleary, holding a framed photograph of their daughter. Picture: David Raleigh 

The mother of a young woman who spent 17 hours on a trolley at University Hospital Limerick before her tragic death has said continued record overcrowding in the hospital is devastating for her family.

Eve Cleary, 21, died in 2019 from a blood clot, just four hours after being discharged from UHL, where she had spent 17 hours on a trolley after a fall in Limerick city centre.

An inquest recorded a verdict of medical misadventure in the case last October and the coroner accepted “harrowing evidence” about overcrowding in the A&E.

Eve's mother Melanie Cleary said she mistakenly believed her daughter's death would lead to improvements to the Limerick emergency department. 

“It seemed like things would change but nothing happened afterwards,” she said. 

I’ve written to everybody since Eve’s death, the previous minister for health, the new minister for health. Nobody seems to come back with a concrete answer, there is no accountability really.” 

“We believe if UHL was put in the middle of Dublin something would be done,” Ms Cleary said.

Eve Cleary, 21, died in 2019 from a blood clot, just four hours after being discharged from UHL, where she had spent 17 hours on a trolley after a fall in Limerick city centre.

Her memory of being in the hospital with her daughter is of trolleys lining the corridors.

“It was like a train, like carriages of trolleys, all basically up on top of each other,” she said. 

“One of the patients there, he was drunk and he urinated in a sink. The smell of that was there when Eve was on the corridor.” 

Her impression was the emergency department was backed up waiting for beds to become available.

That day, there were 50 patients on trolleys, according to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO).

Just a few weeks ago, on January 26, the INMO counted 111 admitted patients on trolleys in UHL.

“I feel, as a parent in this city, that I never want to see that happen to another family again,” she said. 

Limerick deserves a better system, it is chaotic.” 

The Cleary family would like to see an external investigation team examine emergency care in the hospital.

“They should come in and see what is going on there, why isn’t this getting any better? I think Eve deserves that. Three years on and it is worse than it ever was,” she said.

A hospital spokesman said: “We would like to express our sincere sympathy with Eve’s family on their terrible loss. 

"We regret that for Eve and her family their experience in the emergency department was unsatisfactory and we apologise unreservedly for the distress and upset this has caused”.

The Cleary family also want a separate investigation into their daughter’s care following the inquest findings and an internal hospital review of Eve’s case.

Just this week, the Oireachtas health committee raised the ongoing issues at UHL with HSE chief executive Paul Reid.

Mr Reid responded by saying he had confidence in the UHL chief executive and the clinical team but accepted they have "some real challenges in terms of demographics".

He highlighted two issues adding pressure, including the extremely high number of Covid-19 patients, and the shortages of respite and nursing home beds locally, meaning patients often spend longer in UHL than they medically require.

The committee was told the HSE was working to boost services in nearby smaller hospitals, such as Ennis.

Increasing emergency care coverage in these smaller hospitals is something campaigners often raise as one solution.

Ms Cleary said it was upsetting to hear local radio adverts advising people against going to UHL unless it is a serious emergency due to the overcrowding.

Last July, the Irish Association of Emergency Medicine found nine of the 29 emergency departments in Ireland do not have a named consultant in emergency medicine available and are clinically accountable for patients at all times of opening.

They described this as unacceptable and said to provide safe cover in EDs and across the 11 local injury units, 252 consultants are needed, when Ireland has just over 100.

Ms Cleary said she has had enough and has joined with the Mid-West hospital campaign and organised street protests about overcrowding in early 2020.

“Every day I check the trolleys, the numbers. It was utter chaos the day Eve was there, it doesn’t seem to have changed,” she said.

“I have the energy for this now, I hope that people will take to the streets again. I will always continue with this.”