THE HSE has apologised before the High Court for various failings in its treatment of a father of three who died after suffering severe brain injuries after surgery at a Co Kerry hospital for a broken wrist.
Michael Devane (44) died in early October 2007, days after undergoing surgery at Kerry General Hospital, Tralee, on his broken wrist.
After surgery, for which he received a general anaesthetic, Mr Devane’s airways became blocked and he was unable to breathe but his condition was not picked up on by hospital staff, it was claimed. Consequently, he suffered severe brain injuries and died nine days later at Cork University Hospital.
Mr Devane’s wife Deborah, on behalf of herself and their children Stephen, Gráinne, and Pádraig, Nunstown, Aghadoe, Killarney, Co Kerry, had sued the HSE alleging they suffered severe personal injuries, mental distress and nervous shock caused by the allegedly negligent care and treatment afforded to the deceased.
The HSE admitted liability and the case was before the court for assessment only.
Yesterday, Ms Justice Maureen Clark was told the actions had been settled but no details of the settlement were disclosed.
In an apology read to the court by Paul Coffey SC, the HSE said it wished “to apologise sincerely” to Mrs Devane and the entire Devane family “for the various failings in the treatment and care afforded to Michael by Kerry General Hospital in Tralee on September 27th and the days afterwards”. The HSE said it acknowledged “nothing can make up to the Devane family for the tragic loss of Michael who was a devoted and dedicated father and family member”.
The executive also said it accepted the findings of an external review report of April 2009 into Mr Devane’s death and had taken steps to implement its recommendations. It would “learn from this tragic case”.
Outlining the case earlier, Denis McCullough SC, for the family, said it was “very tragic”.
The deceased, a psychiatric nurse, had broken his wrist after his hang glider crashed on September 27th, 2007. That same day he underwent surgery at 7.50pm. Because the recovery room at the hospital closed at 8pm daily, he recovered in the theatre before being moved to a bed on a ward shortly afterwards.
Counsel said he was brought to the ward without being properly monitored or given supplemental oxygen and had stopped breathing during the transfer but this went unrecognised by medical staff until he was observed to be turning blue and not responding to stimuli.
By that stage, Mr Devane had suffered an unrecognised respiratory depression resulting in lack of oxygen to the brain and a heart attack, counsel said. He was resuscitated and taken to the intensive care unit and eventually transferred to the Cork hospital. An initial transfer was aborted because equipment in the ambulance to help him breathe either did not work or staff in the ambulance were not trained how to use it.
On October 2nd his family was told he had suffered a severe injury and a good outcome was unlikely. He died on October 6th.
After the court assessment, the Devane family said they were “satisfied that the HSE has finally apologised for the failings of the hospital in Mike’s case”.
They hoped “the appropriate disciplinary action has been taken against those directly responsible”. Had the HSE issued the apology earlier, that would have led to a more conclusive verdict of medical misadventure at the inquest rather than the open verdict that was returned, they said. “Nothing can bring Mike back and we just want to get on with our lives.”