The parents of two-year-old Róisín Ruddle, who died after surgery on her was postponed by the State's largest children's hospital, have told of their anguish at having to wait three months for an appointment for the operation only for it to be cancelled. Eithne Donnellan, Health Correspondent, reports.
In 2003, they waited from March to the end of June for the appointment at Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin, Dublin.
During that time they watched their child "struggling with her condition", Mr Gerard Ruddle and Mrs Helen Quain-Ruddle said. They told of ringing the hospital several times between March and June seeking an appointment and how the hospital never initiated contact during this time.
Their comments yesterday marked their first public statement since the publication of two reports into their child's death earlier this week. One was carried out by the Eastern Regional Health Authority, the other by an independent review panel, which found that had Róisín had her surgery, her chances of survival would have been greater.
It concluded that her clinical treatment was appropriate, but the Ruddles said they still had "concerns".
They told of how, once their daughter's operation was scheduled for June 30th, 2003, they had to travel to Crumlin from their home near Adare in Limerick with Róisín for a pre-operative assessment.
They went to Crumlin on June 25th, home on June 26th and returned to Dublin on June 29th. Their daughter fasted for her operation that night, which was a sleepless one for them, and the next day at 11 a.m. they were told the surgery was cancelled due to a shortage of intensive care nurses.
"This was a little girl who suffered from a rare and complex heart complaint. She was strapped in a seat for four hours on the journey to Dublin on the 25th June. On the return journey, on the 26th June, we are caught up in a [ concert] traffic jam that took five hours to complete.
"We set out for Dublin again on Sunday 29th June, when at midnight she was prepared for her operation, fasting and with a drip in place all night. At 11 in the morning, with the cancellation of her operation, she was literally taken from her bed and, although offered food by us from the hospital coffee dock, which she refused, we set out once more for home . . .
"We have no doubt at all but had Róisín been given the chance for life on the morning of the 30th June 2003, she would be still with us - a chance denied her and, as a consequence, a damnation on us her parents who put our misplaced trust in the health system that is ours."
Crumlin hospital said it would be improper for it to comment on the parents' statement yesterday.
Hospital added to grief, say Róisín's parents: Ruddle family statement: page 5