An independent report into the death of a two-year-old Limerick girl who died within hours of her heart operation being postponed by a Dublin Hospital in 2003 is to be brought to today's Cabinet meeting.
Róisín Ruddle was due to have heart surgery to correct a congenital heart condition at Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin, Dublin, on June 30th, 2003. She had travelled to the hospital for the operation, which was cancelled shortly before it was due to take place.
The hospital said this was due to a shortage of intensive care nurses to care for her after surgery. It sent her back to her home at Kilmacow, near Adare, and she died early the next morning, July 1st.
The then minister for health, Mr Martin, ordered a report into what happened from the Eastern Regional Health Authority (ERHA), which funded the hospital. After receiving that report, the parents of Róisín Ruddle, Mr Gerard Ruddle and Ms Helen Quain-Ruddle, said it left many questions unanswered.
It did not address the issue of whether the child should have been sent home or the effect on their child of having to travel back to Limerick. It simply set out the reason for her surgery being cancelled. The Ruddle family called for an independent inquiry.
Their request was acceded to and a three-person independent expert group was asked to investigate what happened.
Their report, which has been sent to the Minister for Health, Ms Harney, will today be discussed by Cabinet.
The expert group included a paediatric cardiologist from Guys & Thomas's Hospital in London, Dr Shakeel A. Qureshi, management consultant Mr David Hanly, one of the authors of the Hanly report on hospital reorganisation, and Ms Kay O'Sullivan, the director of nursing at Cork University Hospital.
A spokesman for the Department of Health said yesterday a memo had been prepared for Cabinet on the Ruddle report. He added that a copy of the report would also go to the Ruddle family before it is published.
Even since the Ruddle case, Crumlin hospital has had to defer surgery on several children due to ongoing shortages of intensive care nurses. Last October, following further controversy over the deferral of surgery on two other children, the hospital said it had made enormous efforts to recruit intensive care nurses but still at that time had 17 vacancies. It said it had deferred heart surgery on 18 children during the first nine months of 2004.