UHL clinical director claims suspension, pending probe into Aoife Johnston's death, 'unlawful'

Prof. Brian Lenehan has been told he can, pending the investigation, return to working as an orthopaedic surgeon which is what he was first employed

Professor Brian Lenehan, in an affidavit, said he was part of a team which, nearly two months before Ms Johnston's death, decided to reinstate a protocol for dealing with overcrowding in emergency by having patients taken in trolleys to hospital wards to await beds there. Photo: Collins Courts

The chief clinical director of University Hospital Limerick (UHL) does not know why a system for dealing with overcrowding in the hospital's emergency department was not implemented at the time teenage student Aoife Johnston died, the High Court has heard.

The 16-year-old Leaving Cert student from Shannon, Co Clare, died on December 19, 2022, from meningitis two days after presenting at the UHL emergency department with symptoms of suspected sepsis, during which her condition worsened. It later emerged she was left for more than 13 hours without antibiotics.