HSE declines to say if action will be taken against staff over Savita death

The HSE has declined to say if action will be taken against any member of staff following the tragic death of Savita Halappanavar at Galway University Hospital.

Her husband, Praveen, has repeatedly criticised the fact that nobody has been held responsible and no action taken over the failures identified by two investigations into the death of Mrs Halappanavar last October.

Yesterday the chairman of the HSE West Regional Health Forum, Cllr Padraig Conneely, asked HSE management what action would be taken against clinicians and others arising from the failures identified by the coroner’s inquest and by the HSE’s own clinical review.

While a third investigation had yet to be published by Health Information and Quality Authority, Mr Conneely said it was obvious Mrs Halappanavar’s care had been mismanaged from the day she entered hospital.

Chief operating officer for the Galway-Roscommon Hospital Group, Tony Canavan, pointed out the hospital, the HSE and the board of the Galway and Roscommon Hospital Group had all apologised to Mr Halappanavar for the events related to his wife’s care that contributed to her death.

It was clear from the clinical review there were failures in the standard of Mrs Halappanavar’s care, but the hospital had taken immediate action to ensure implementation of interim recommendations, resulting in “significant improvements” at the Galway hospital.

“The report and onward media coverage made for difficult reading for all concerned, including our staff, and we continue to offer staff our full support as they work through this difficult process”, Mr Canavan said.

He said it would be inappropriate to make additional comment as further remarks could be interpreted as an attempt to influence outstanding deliberations.