Woman 'deprived of simple lifesaving treatment'

Family of Donegal woman receives €325k settlement from HSE after her death from blood clot in 2018

Counsel for the Kelly family Doireann O’Mahony yesterday told the High Court Bridie Kelly’s family were very aggrieved at the way she was “neglected and deprived of simple lifesaving treatment” in the form of anticoagulation. Picture: iStock

The family of a 54-year-old mother-of-three who presented at a hospital twice with intense leg pain but later died from a blood clot has settled a High Court action for €325,000.

Counsel for the Kelly family Doireann O’Mahony yesterday told the High Court Bridie Kelly’s family were very aggrieved at the way she was “neglected and deprived of simple lifesaving treatment” in the form of anticoagulation.

Counsel said it was a very tragic case arising from the death of Bridie Kelly at Letterkenny University Hospital in April 2018.

It was their case there had been an alleged avoidable and inexcusable delay in the diagnosis and treatment of Mrs Kelly’s deep vein thrombosis. (DVT) The HSE has admitted a breach of duty in the case but disputed causation.

The hospital later apologised for the deficits in clinical care and the events that occurred in the lead-up to Mrs Kelly's death as a serious incident review was also carried out into Mrs Kelly's death.

John Kelly, Drumbeigh, Mountcharles, Co Donegal, had sued the HSE over the death of his wife Bridie two years ago.

Mrs Kelly first went to the emergency department of Letterkenny University Hospital on February 27, 2018, because of swelling and intense pain in the calf of her left leg.

It was claimed Mrs Kelly should have been sent for an ultrasound scan of her leg veins as her D-dimer levels, it was claimed, were grossly elevated and strongly suggestive of the presence of a blood clot in the veins.

Instead, she was advised her symptoms were due to muscle pain and she was discharged.

It was claimed had the appropriate imaging been undertaken, the deep vein thrombosis would have been discovered and a full dose of anticoagulant treatment would have been started and the blood clot would have resolved without complication over a period of between three to six months.

Mrs Kelly went back to the hospital A&E on April 22, 2018, with more pain and swelling in her left leg. He D-dimer level, it was claimed, was nearly 10 times the upper limit of normal and could only have been caused by deep vein thrombosis. It was claimed the ultrasound was not carried out until two days later on April 24, 2018. DVT was diagnosed and Mrs Kelly was given a prescription.

The prescription, it was claimed, was written in a substandard way, leading to an error in the dose of drug given. Only a tiny fraction of the intended dose was given, meaning that for two days Mrs Kelly was untreated. The correct prescription was written a day later but Mrs Kelly died on Aril 30, 2018, after suffering a massive pulmonary embolism.

There was, it was claimed, a failure to exercise reasonable and ordinary care and skill in and about the management, care and treatment of Mrs Kelly and that she had been discharged with an alleged likely DVT.

It was further claimed that her anti-coagulant drug prescription had been written in an alleged substandard way, leading to an error in the dose given, meaning Mrs Kelly remained untreated between April 24th and 26th, 2018.

Approving the settlement,  Mr Justice Kevin Cross said it was a sad death and nothing anyone can do can bring Mrs Kelly back but it was a good settlement.

He sympathised with the family on “this sad loss”. 

Outside court, the family solicitor Ciaran Tansey said the Kellys have had a very difficult two and a half years. 

He said a HSE report into the incident had made a number of recommendations “so this does not happen again” and the Kelly family, he said, are determined the HSE will implement “to the fullest extent all of those recommendations and hopefully this will be the last day we will be outside the Four Courts”.