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THE HSE has expressed its annoyance that a draft edition of the report of its investigation into the death of Savita Halappanavar in Galway last year has made it into the public arena.
The draft report was obtained by the Evening Herald, and reported on in today’s edition of that newspaper.
The Herald said the draft investigation had found that an abortion should have been considered days before Halappanavar’s death, given that she was miscarrying and her child had no prospect of survival.
It also reportedly finds that a blood infection – thought to have been the key cause of death – had been undiagnosed for days before her death in Galway University Hospital.
“The terms of reference of the Investigation Team, led by independent Chairman Prof Sir Arulkumaran, state that the investigation will be ‘cognisant of the rights of all involved to privacy and confidentiality; dignity and respect; due process; and natural and constitutional justice’,” the HSE said this evening.
“All reports commissioned by the HSE go through a rigorous fact checking and verification process before completion,” it added.
“It would be inappropriate to comment on the contents of media reports, given that a final report has not yet been completed.”
It said the investigation team was still working to produce a “robust” report as soon as possible.
Earlier today health minister James Reilly said he hoped to have the final edition report by next week.
Disappointed? It’s a disgrace. Since Fine Gael and Labour got into power, I’ve never seen as many leaks to the media. They can’t control their own staff and are blaming everyone else.
Yes. Because its in FG & Labours interests for this to be leaked, isn’t it? Get a grip. Is there anything you wouldn’t blame this Government for? Kennedy assassination? Now that you mention it I’m pretty sure I spotted Enda Kenny on the Grassy Knoll.
And yes I know it was an independent commission that carried out the inquiry but they ultimately report back to the government with their findings. It’s been nothing but leaks with them from the beginning. That’s how they control their mess ups.
Get an idea of the reactions to what you are going to say before you say it!
Every body mentioned in the draft is entitled to see it for comments and corrections before it is finalised. That means there are a large number of people who could have leaked it.
The HSE would be upset by anything that may affect its fat cat leadership. It’s almost as corrupt as the Vatican in terms of secrecy and lies. I’ve worked for the HSE in various capacities. Bullying against
Clients and staff is rampant. Miss management and too many managers are rife as operators of the whip towards underlings. I expect little justice for this poor ladies family as this report isn’t independent. I’ve had professional experience of working with O’Reilly in his role as a doctor. I’d very little faith in him then. How he ever became our health minister….
Miss Management. Is she going out with Mr. Messy?
Yh it’s O’Reilly’s date for tomorrow ;)
Keith
I do believe you won’t be working with the HSE anymore. With those views I believe most people wouldn’t want to work with you either.
Rotunda Maternity Hospital says six pregnancies were terminated at the hospital last year in order to save the life of the mother. They seem to have clear procedures on what to do in these situations. Unless you have an extreme right wing view there is no argument with the Rotunda, Baby wont survive without the Mammy.
Why in UCHG were they using such arguments as “the laws are unclear or our hands were tied legally” and blaming lack of legislation, I dont buy that excuse, are the laws different in the west of ireland?
Apparently they were terminated Because the Life of the Woman Was In Danger, Where as Savita’s Life had the Potential Danger, 2 very different things in Ireland as per bloody usual ! A dying fetus takes precedence over a live being !
Article 40.3.3 of the Constitution prevented the clinicians from inducing birth. It’s the constitutional guarantee of equality in the right to life of the foetus and the pregnant woman which prevented prudent intervention. It’s a useful demonstration of the perils of incorporating religious dogma into a constitution of a country. Two Attorneys General advised of this legal risk.
The leaking is unsatisfactory, unhelpful and made out of mischief.
The vastly more important aspect is what the entire HSE Report asserts what happened and the implications of this. We will see the full report in due course.
It is extremely unfortunate that a certain group is seizing upon the notion of medical negligence. There is a duty of responsibility to the clinicians involved not to jump to conclusions about their standards of care and competence. They were placed in a difficult and intractable situation and likely were anguished by what happened.
Falstaff, how can you write such BS. What has the Government got to do with this? They have not even got the draft document. You have a paranoia problem , man. A big one.
What I said Rory was that the government can’t control their own staff. The HSE reports to and is answerable to this and every government in power. And I said, since this government has taken power, there has been nothing but leaks to the media. Every recent budget, the public knew about it from either Europe or Irish media sources before it was announced by FG/L. And thats the same with other leaked reports. I’m not paranoid. I just made an observational comment. Very sorry if it upset you. So I’d agree with you that the government didn’t leak this themselves, but their staff did.
The leak was wrong to begin with but the Herald was wrong to publish this report. It was published before a statutory hearing of the facts in the Coroners Court and may prove to be entirely prejudicial to that enquiry, as well as other legal proceedings that may arise in the future. It was highly irresponsible by the paper, and most importantly was extremely insensitive to the husband and family of Ms. Halapanavaar.
They would be better occupied being annoyed that there was a need for this investigation in the first place, and that they initially made such a pigs dinner of setting it up.
I am so cynical now about reports of any kind issuing forth from our government and it’s institutions that I read “All reports … go though a rigorous fact checking and verification process” as “All reports are carefully edited to make sure nobody can actually be held accountable for anything”
The disgrace is not the leak. It is the actions and death of a woman that led to an investigation being needed in the first place.
Will the person responsible for writing the report be fired for letting the report out of his or her control? If not why? This is criminal as the family have suffered too much at the hands of the HSE and certain members of their staff already.
As I said in an earlier post, the draft has to be sent to those mentioned in it for comment before it is finalised.
@ Brendan, agreed. Any person potentially adversely affected has a right to see the preliminary draft findings and to respond with submissions as to why the findings are claimed not to be justified or well founded. It’s a feature of Constitutional or Natural Justice.
It might be possible to trace back from the nature of the leaks the category of persons who may have received the leaked portions. Generally, it is only the adverse preliminary findings relevant to the recipient which are provided to them or their representatives although some more general findings may also have to be produced.
It only raises questions I am unlikely to get answers to – was it leaked for simple greed, did the Herald pay the leaker? Was it leaked on grounds of conscience because someone feared its publication would be seriously delayed by legal challenge from the medical team? Did someone in the coalition government feel they needed their hand strengthened in driving legislation through the Oireachtas?
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