Parents to meet Martin over daughter's death

The Minister for Health, Mr Martin, will this afternoon meet the parents of two-year-old Limerick girl Róisín Ruddle, who died…

The Minister for Health, Mr Martin, will this afternoon meet the parents of two-year-old Limerick girl Róisín Ruddle, who died shortly after her heart surgery was cancelled.

Today's meeting follows a call by Mr Gerard Ruddle and Ms Helen Quain-Ruddle for an independent inquiry into the incident in which Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin, Dublin, cancelled the operation two weeks ago.

The inquiry was called for after the parents read reports into the events of June 30th last from the hospital and the Eastern Regional Health Authority (ERHA).

According to the Ruddles, the reports did not answer all their questions. At the meeting the Minister will try to establish what issues the Ruddle family would like to see resolved.

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In a statement released on Tuesday the Ruddle family said: "After due consideration we feel that further questions need to be answered and are calling on the Minister for Health and Children, Mr Micheál Martin TD, to set up an independent inquiry as soon as possible into the events surrounding the death of our daughter Róisín".

Mr Martin wrote to the family immediately after receiving their request and ensured them that all the relevant facts would be made available.

The Minister is understood to be willing to publish the ERHA report once the family's questions have been addressed.

The report has been described as a chronological examination of the events leading up to the cancellation of Róisín's surgery for a congenital heart condition. It also draws attention to the shortage of nurses in the intensive care department at the Crumlin hospital.