Savita death ‘a disaster for obstetrician’

The death of Savita Halappanavar was a great disaster not only for her family but also for the obstetrician who treated her, according to the president of the Irish Hospital Consultants' Association.

Dr Denis Evoy said he accepted the finding of last week's Hiqa report into Ms Halappanavar's death that her obstetrician, Dr Katherine Astbury, was ultimately responsible for what happened. The report said "ultimate clinical accountability rested with the consultant obstetrician who was leading Savita Halappanavar's care". But he said the problems that emerged in the report and that needed to be addressed were multi-factorial in nature.

'Great disaster'

"It's a great tragedy. We're all fearful of ending up at the Medical Council, your life is destroyed. It's a great disaster for the family but it's also a great disaster for that poor obstetrician. Her grief pales into insignificance compared to that of the family but you say a prayer that it's not you."

In a recent meeting with the Medical Council, he said, the association expressed the view that insufficient resources and poor organisation and recruitment could lead to these problems occurring. “And then it’s the doctor who’s ultimately responsible, with the courts and the Medical Council.”

Dr Fergal McGoldrick, a consultant in private practice, said a core problem was that nurse training had gone from being hands-on to a situation where nurses were “too posh to wash”.

The drop in standards of nursing care and a transfer of responsibilities from nurses to healthcare assistants lacking the required standards had led to a slow deterioration over the past 15 years.

Royal College of Surgeons president Prof Paddy Broe said it was very appropriate that nurses were now trained in degree courses but the suggestion that nurses spend more time on hospital wards was a good one.

Mr Evoy said he “disowned” any criticism of nurses and it was not true to say nurses weren’t as active on wards as they used to be.