Mater apologises after leaving man brain-damaged after routine heart bypass

The Mater hospital has apologised at the High Court over "shortcomings" in the care of a father of four who has been left brain damaged after undergoing a routine heart bypass operation five years ago. The settlement of Martin Byrne's case also involves an interim payment of €1.5 million to cover his care over the next three years.

Mr Justice Kevin Cross was told that when Mr Byrne, a taxi driver, was being discharged from the hospital, a doctor had written an apology on the discharge papers but the hospital had not admitted liability in the case until four years later.

Mr Byrne, then 48, suffered a heart attack when pacing wires were removed by junior staff five days after his operation, which was carried out on December 7th, 2010. Liam Reidy SC said Mr Byrne had a heart attack and his heart stopped for 15 minutes, which caused profound brain damage.

Thirteen days later, on Christmas morning 2010, Mr Byrne’s wife and children were told he had a significant and profound injury, Mr Reidy added. Mr Byrne remained in a coma until February 2011.

An apology from Mary Day, as chief executive of the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, Dublin, was read to the court as part of a settlement of Mr Byrne’s action. “The Mater hospital wishes to reiterate its sincere apology to Martin Byrne and his family in relation to the events surrounding his care in the hospital in December 2010,” the apology read. “The hospital again extends unreservedly its unequivocal and heartfelt apology for the shortcomings in the care provided to Mr Byrne and for the distress and suffering this has caused to him and his family.”

Mr Byrne, Swords, Co Dublin, had, through his wife Una Byrne, sued the Mater University Hospital as a result of his care after undergoing a surgical procedure at the hospital on December 7th, 2010.

It was claimed that five days after the procedure, pacing wires which had been left in situ were removed, internal bleeding occurred during this process and he later had a heart attack. Mr Byrne was in a coma until February 2011.

Ms Byrne told the court her husband, a father of four and now a grandfather, was always an active man and had enjoyed camping holidays with his family and scuba diving. “This has devastated our family. We worked hard all our lives. Just months before we had been scuba-diving in Egypt. We thought it was the beginning of the rest of our lives as our children were working or at college,” she told the judge. “It has been a nightmare for my family. For 13 days, we did not know the outcome; it was agonising.”

Mrs Byrne said the news that her husband was brain-damaged was delivered in “a cold and clinical way”.

Earlier, Mr Reidy said Mr Byrne had been admitted to the Mater emergency department with unstable angina and it was decided he would have the surgery. When he returned to have pacing wires removed, that was done by junior staff and afterwards Mr Byrne had a heart attack.

Approving the interim settlement, Mr Justice Cross said Mr Byrne had “suffered something nobody should have suffered”. He had gone into hospital for a fairly routine procedure and he was damaged in this way. The judge said he wished Mr Byrne and his family well for the future.