A devastated Co Tipperary family has received a HSE apology and an admission of negligence and breach of duty of care leading to the death of their father, after medics failed to perform a CAT scan that could have saved his life.
John Tuohy (68), Toomevara, Co Tipperary, died at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) on September 14th, 2022, following falls in his home causing a head injury.
His daughter, Joanne, took a medical negligence case against the HSE claiming damages for her father’s “wrongful death from injuries caused by reason of the negligence and breach of duty in and about the assessment, diagnosis, treatment, management and or care of the deceased and about the diagnosis or treatment of the head injuries with which he presented”.
John Tuohy had suffered from cardiomyopathy – a heart-muscle disease – for which he had been prescribed anticoagulants, or blood thinners.
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On September 11th, 2022, following John’s admission to UHL after the falls, a duty doctor sought a CAT scan and an assessment for the presence of “traumatic intracranial haemorrhage”.
The doctor noted that John had no recollection of events regarding his falls, but the request did not refer to the fact that he was on blood-thinning medication.
The doctor’s request for the CAT scan was rejected by a radiology registrar and the request was cancelled as it was deemed not to be within “NICE [National Institute of Care Excellence] guidelines”.
John was then discharged from UHL at around 8pm that night but fell ill and was vomiting on his return home as his condition deteriorated.
He was again taken by ambulance to the hospital in the early hours of September 12th, 2022, when a CAT scan revealed a large subdural haemorrhage and a bone fracture at the base of the skull.
He died two days later in the intensive care unit at the hospital.
Joanne Tuohy, represented by barrister Patrick Treacy, instructed by Pádraic Hayes of Cian O’Carroll solicitors, submitted that the hospital failed to adequately monitor her father’s condition, failed to carry out a CAT scan at the first opportunity when it was required by reason of his condition and further failed to note his medication or amnesia of events.
The Tuohy family had “lost a loved father, spouse and grandfather and have suffered profound stress, great mental distress, psychological upset and anguish and sustained and incurred loss, damage and expense”, it was submitted.
Treacy read out the apology from UHL in full to the Tuohy family who were present in court. Counsel said “causation and negligence [by UHL] were fully admitted”.
Reading directly from the apology, Treacy said: “On behalf of the management, staff of UHL and the HSE, we wish to offer our sincere condolences to you and your extended family following the death of your father, Mr Tuohy, on September 14th, 2022. We accept that a CAT scan should have been completed on September 11th, 2022, and the failure to complete such a scan was an error and a breach of duty on part of the hospital, which led to the death of Mr Tuohy.
“We acknowledge that the experience was devastating for you and your family.
“We wish to apologise for the failings and substandard care provided to Mr Tuohy in September 2022 and for the distress and upset that this has caused to all of you,” Treacy read.
Judge Paul Coffey extended his deepest sympathy to the Tuohy family and ordered that the family receive the statutory amount of €35,000 and their costs in the proceedings.
