HSE declines to give precise publication date for report into death of Aoife Johnston

The family solicitor, Damien Tansey, said they plan to publish it at the end of this week if they receive no response from the HSE

Aoife Johnston died in the busy emergency department in December 2022. Picture: David Raleigh

The HSE CEO has once again pledged to publish a report into the death of Aoife Johnston in University Hospital Limerick without giving a precise date for doing so.

This is despite repeated pleas by her bereaved family in recent days for the full report to be published. The family’s solicitor has said they have a copy and are considering publishing this themselves in frustration.

Ms Johnston died in the busy emergency department in December 2022. The inquest into her death, held earlier this year, heard shocking details of the trauma her family experienced while trying to get help for her with the Emergency Department so busy it was described as a death trap.

A HSE spokeswoman said on Monday: “The CEO has said he will publish the report later this month in an appropriate format, which must take into account the HSE’s obligations to all parties involved and must respect the personal and sensitive data contained in the report."

Former chief justice Frank Clarke was appointed in December of last year to carry out the investigation, in the wake of an internal review which raised serious questions about accountability and responsibility.

The family solicitor, Damien Tansey of Damien Tansey Solicitors, Sligo, has said however they found the report “utterly superficial”.

They want to see the full unredacted report published, and he said they have written to Mr Gloster making this clear. They plan to publish it at the end of this week if they receive no response.

The family, he said, is especially frustrated at limits placed on the investigation, particularly "an inability for Mr Clarke to make findings of fact", or to make "adverse findings".