TRAGIC LOSS The late Evelyn Flanagan.
HSE admits liability in death of young mother at Mayo General
Áine Ryan
aineryan@mayonews.ie
THE HSE has admitted liability in the death of young mother Evelyn Flanagan, who died shortly after giving birth to her second daughter at Mayo General Hospital in 2007. It will now pay her family €850,000 plus costs, after a mediated High Court settlement was reached.
Evelyn Flanagan died at the hospital on October 19, 2007, following serious complications, just hours after she gave birth to her second daughter, Niamh. Her 43-year-old widower, Padraic, subsequently brought proceedings against the HSE and Consultant Obstetrician, Dr Murtada Mohamed, in which it was alleged she had suffered a post-partum haemorrhage as a result of a rupture of the uterus that was not detected or adequately addressed.
Counsel for Padraic Flanagan, of Hollyhill, Ballyheane, Castlebar, claimed the care given to Evelyn was substandard and led to her death. Ruling on the mediated settlement last week, Mr Justice Michael Peart struck out the case against Dr Mohamed. The settlement includes payments for two children and the maximum €25,395 for mental distress. Afterwards, Mr Flanagan said in a statement that he welcomed ‘the acknowledgement of liability by Mayo General Hospital, albeit late in the day’.
Devastating loss
Padraic Flanagan is a Senior Executive Officer with Mayo County Council. The late Evelyn was also working at the local authority, as an Acting Senior Staff Officer, at the time of her death. At the time of the tragedy, the couple already had one daughter, Aisling, who is now aged seven. Mr Flanagan is now bringing up both daughters alone and said his wife’s loss ‘has been devastating’.
In legal submissions, Mr Flanagan described his wife as ‘a very healthy, strong individual’ and a great mother.
While an initial post-mortem report had suggested her death was the direct result of an Amniotic Fluid Embolism, the family claimed her sudden deterioration could be attributed to a postpartum haemorrhage.
Inquest
AT inquest proceedings, in 2008 and 2009, John Jordan SC, on behalf of the family, had argued that Evelyn’s death could have been avoided with the provision of ‘timely and appropriate treatment’. Padraic Flanagan claimed the staff at Mayo General Hospital had failed to detect that his wife was bleeding heavily from a tear in the uterus until six hours after she gave birth. Representatives from Mayo General hospital disputed this.
However, after the Coroner, John O’Dwyer, brought forward an independent medical witness from the Royal College of Pathologists, the jury concluded she had died of medical misadventure, specifically ‘acute cardiac failure following post-partum haemorrhage following blood and fluid administration’.
A statement, released by the HSE after last week’s settlement, extended the sympathies of the executive ‘to the husband and family of Evelyn Flanagan on their tragic loss in 2007’.
“It is always the expectation that a mother like Evelyn would be home with her newborn baby, but this sadly was not the case,” the statement said.
It continued: “In order to respond to any similar clinical situation arising in the future, the hospital has put in place a number of protocols. The hospital is committed to a programme of continuous improvement in the clinical care provided to patients, and arrangements have also been put in place to have clinical audits undertaken on a monthly basis.
“Mayo General Hospital would like to assure the patient population it serves that robust arrangements are now in place to notify and review any serious adverse event that occurs at the hospital in order to identify any shortfall in its services and to implement improvements whenever possible.”
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