Prolonging medical negligence cases 'abusive toward patients'

Rebecca Collins with partner Tom and children Annie, Molly, Alice, and Nacy outside the High Court in Dublin after the settlement over the death of baby Hannah. Picture: Collins Courts

Dragging out medical negligence cases is abusive toward patients, an advocate has said, as a Clare family finally received an apology on Wednesday over the death of their baby 16 years ago.

World Health Organization Patients for Patient Safety external lead adviser Margaret Murphy echoed the Collins family from Clare, who called for full implementation of the Patient Safety Bill which will ensure mandatory open disclosure of adverse incidents in healthcare.

The HSE and University Maternity Hospital Limerick apologised in the High Court to Rebecca Collins, who gave birth to a stillborn baby, Hannah, in the hospital 16 years ago. The case had been settled and could be struck out, the court was told.

“It [the apology] only added further anguish and trauma to have to wait and fight for so long for answers,” said Ms Collins.

Ms Murphy has called for reforms around medical negligence and disclosure since the death of her son Kevin, 21, in 1999 from a treatable condition. The Cork woman was critical of the long delay in Wednesday’s case between the devastating events and the eventual apology and settlement.

“I am waiting for the time when some group will be setting up some kind of redress scheme, because it is a different form of abuse,” she said. 

It’s another kind of abuse, it’s absolutely abusive dragging it out to the 11th hour. It undermines our faith.”

Last month, the Patient Safety Bill passed report stage in the Dáil. Ms Murphy welcomed this as a step in the right direction, but said concerns around potential “wriggle room” remain.

“The impact will become clear in the fullness of time,” she said. “How we will be able to test that is when we no longer have people waiting 16 or 17 years to come to some kind of resolution.”

UCC president John O'Halloran with patient advocate Margaret Murphy who was awarded an honorary doctorate by UCC. Picture: Daragh Mc Sweeney/Provision

The solicitor for the Collins family shared a statement highlighting a 10-year delay between Hannah’s death and her parents being informed of an issue with the CTG reading. This was only done after they raised concerns.

Homs Assist solicitor Rachael O’Shaughnessy said the family hope they can encourage others “to ask and keep asking the difficult questions until they are answered".

“This is yet another tragic case which brings home the very real need for the urgent enactment of the Patient Safety Bill which would make open disclosure for patient safety incidents mandatory as soon as reasonably practicable,” she said.

“Rebecca and Tom Collins deeply hope that it will be passed into law as quickly as possible. 

They hope that in some way their daughter’s death was not in vain and they truly hope no other family will have to suffer as they have.”

Ms Murphy, who sits on the Irish Patients Association board, gives talks to medical and nursing students at third level. She expressed gratitude for the chance to speak on her son’s behalf to the new generation who will implement open disclosure.

She described what was in place up to now as “defend and deny” everything.

“It’s a wearing-down process, because so many people decide ‘I can’t do this anymore’ and you can almost count on a certain proportion of people going that route because they can’t stomach it anymore,” she said.

“I often say that by not dealing with it properly, how we are received after the event can actually be more damaging than the event itself.”

Ms Murphy also stressed the limitations of relying on courts, as this can be prohibitively expensive for many families.

She recalled paying €2,000 for a peer review when she and her husband Barry first took a case about Kevin’s death. 

“There is a huge imbalance of power there,” she said.