Mother receives Cervical Check appointment letter for daughter Eve, who died in 2019

Melanie Cleary said: 'I really hope this doesn’t happen to anyone else'

Barry and Melanie Cleary of Corbally, settled a High Court action over Eve's death last year. Picture:Collins Courts

A Limerick mother received a Cervical Check appointment for her daughter six years after she died in controversial circumstances at University Hospital Limerick (UHL).

Melanie Cleary received the appointment letter for her daughter Eve on Tuesday. Eve Cleary, aged 21, died in July 2019 at UHL.

Her case was widely covered in the media after it emerged she died two days after she fell and hurt her leg and went to the emergency department of the Limerick hospital where she spent 17 hours on a trolley, and over three hours after she had been discharged from the hospital.

During the case, a medical expert on the Cleary side said if Eve had been given an anti-coagulant, it would have prevented her from developing the blood clot in her lung which led to her cardiac arrest and death.

Her family settled a High Court action over her death in January last year.

Her mother Melanie said on Wednesday: “She’s gone six years in July now, I wasn’t expecting anything about an appointment for her.” 

She said she was shocked to get a health appointment of all issues. She was sure Eve was removed from these databases after the family received a hospital bill soon after her death.

“At the time with the bill when she died, I went to the HSE with that bill and to the department of social protection and Revenue to make sure her name wasn’t on any databases. So they were aware she was dead,” she said.

I was so angry when I read it. How was her name even on it when they told me that nothing would come for her again?

"It was hurtful, they dragged us through the courts already. It’s just wrong.

Ms Cleary shared the letter and her upset on social media. She intended to contact CervicalCheck later this week to complain.

However, to her further surprise another letter arrived at the family home on Wednesday morning.

“They obviously read it on Twitter (X), and this morning at 9am the door-bell went and it was a taxi-driver outside with a letter for me,” she said.

“He said he was told to put it into my hands.” 

Eve Cleary, aged 21, died in July 2019 at UHL. File picture

In this second letter, dated May 21, the Limerick CervicalCheck service “apologised unreservedly” for the mistake.

The manager wrote she was “sorry for the upset, anger and sorrow this has caused you and your family". 

She explained Eve’s name came into their system in data on over 100,000 school students who received the HPV vaccine as teens. 

This group is now eligible for screening which starts at age 25.

Ms Cleary said while she feels less angry after reading this, her distress remains.

“My own girls, they’re all in their late teens, early 20s, they were fuming yesterday,” she said. 

“They were saying this morning they were thinking about Eve all night, about this.” 

Melanie Cleary called on the HSE and related services to think about how data errors affect families.

“It is something that happens a lot, because other people have been telling me they got letters, not from CervicalCheck, but from other health services,” she said.

“Really they should join up all their information, I don’t know how it isn’t linked in properly.” 

"I really hope this doesn’t happen to anyone else.”