A family attending a High Court hearing have heard a statement read to them apologising for their mother´s hospital death due to dehydration.
The family of Eileen Brady were in court to hear the apology as closure to their compensation claim for a hospital death due to dehydration following the tragic loss of their mother at the Cavan General Hospital in January 2010.
Eileen (65) had been referred to the Cavan General Hospital by her GP after she had been diagnosed with a poor fluid intake which was manifesting in mouth ulcers. Eileen was admitted to the hospital on 5th January, but died the following day due to multiple organ failure.
An investigation into her death revealed that the dehydration treatment Eileen had been admitted for had been ineffective, as her veins had collapsed due to the chemotherapy treatment she was undergoing in a Dublin hospital to treat her stomach cancer.
The investigation also revealed that Eileen´s hospital death due to dehydration could have been prevented if her medical charts had been examined more closely, if senior physicians had been consulted as Eileen´s condition deteriorated or if the Cavan General Hospital had liaised with the Dublin hospital at which Eileen was receiving her treatment for cancer.
Eileen´s son – Martin Brady from Crosskeys in County Cavan – sued the Cavan General Hospital and Health Service Executive (HSE) on behalf of the family, claiming that Eileen´s avoidable hospital death due to dehydration had caused the family mental distress. The HSE admitted liability and a compensation settlement was agreed out of court, subject to the family receiving a public apology.
At the High Court, the HSE´s legal representative read out a statement in which the hospital and the HSE apologised for the negligent care which resulted in Eileen´s death, and the subsequent grief and stress that had been suffered by her family and friends.
Responding on behalf of the family, Aidan Brady said he hoped that both Cavan General Hospital and the HSE had learned from “the grave mistakes” made in the care of his mother “and that no other family would have to go through the trauma and distress that we have suffered”.
Ms Justice Mary Irvine closed the hearing after extending her personal sympathy to Eileen´s family.