Harris apologises for reply to woman’s sarcastic praise of HSE

Minister for Health Simon Harris has apologised to a terminally ill woman for a letter sent in his name which wrongly suggested she had praised her care at Cork University Hospital (CUH).

Anne Herlihy wrote a sarcastic email to the Minister which begins "I'm writing to inform you about the exceptional care and treatment which I received in one of Cork's acute hospitals of excellence recently."

It is probable the person who responded on the Minister’s behalf did not read past that paragraph as the response in the Minister’s name stated: “It is indeed heartening to hear such a positive account of the excellent care and attention afforded to you from the dedicated medical and nursing staff.”

Mr Harris apologised to Ms Herlihy for what happened. He said what had happened had been “entirely unacceptable”.

He added: “ I told Anne that I will make all the necessary changes to make sure that this never happens again. I also brought the important issues which Anne raised to the attention of the relevant people in the HSE and my department this afternoon and have asked that they be fully examined.”

Ms Herlihy (53) is a mother-of-two from Charleville, Co Cork. She was diagnosed with terminal stage four Ovarian cancer in late 2014.

She went on to recount at length her experiences in Cork University Hospital (CUH).

‘Overcome with gratitude’

In her email to the Minister she stated: “Firstly I was overcome with gratitude to have the privilege of sitting on a hard chair in the corridor after being admitted to A&E.

“I fully appreciate that dignity isn’t a real worry when one is in excruciating pain and luckily I was heedless to the other patients and their loved ones listening to my most intimate details when disclosing to a junior doctor!”

The relief in eventually finding a trolley was “indescribable”, she said.

Ms Herlihy went on to recount how she was like a “blubbering baby with the severity of pain” and was given morphine by the doctors.

Despite the severity of her pain, Ms Herlihy said she received no examination from the doctors. She was not give a scan because “I stupidly forgot that scans are not performed after 6pm”.

She was eventually put on a trolley with the number 12 on it. “Thank God Minister, I had a light blue blanket to hide my blushes, another item kindly donated by the HSE for my comfort.”

She concluded by stating that “I doubt if I would have received similar service in another European country but I might put that to the test the next time.

“I don’t think our health service is fractured, I think it has broken so don’t send it to an acute hospital to get fixed. You would be waiting a long time.”