Ballinamore girl was victim of a State "systems failure"
The report by HIQA, the Health Information and Quality Authority, into the failure by relevant state agencies to have Ballinamore school girl Meadhbh McGivern safely transported to London for a vital liver transplant operation makes for sober reading.
It says that the system in place was not designed to be reliable and that there was an overly administrative focus on funding and reimbursement of travel and transport "which diverted attention from the safe and timely transfer of care for patients".
According to HIQA Chief Executive, Dr Tracey Cooper, on the night in question (July 2, 2011) all the ingredients were present for "a perfect storm" which resulted in the failure to transport the patient to London.
HIQA has recommended that the HSE immediately establish a national aeromedical co-ordination centre and Minister for Health, Dr James Reilly, has given a commitment that such a central control system will be put in place without delay.
However, the new system as with the former one will be heavily reliant on the Air Corps and the Irish Coastguard. Both undertake sterling work in difficult conditions. However, both have a limited number of aircraft at their disposal and this manifested itself when the request went out to both to have Meadhbh McGivern conveyed to London. Helicopters belonging to the Air Corps and the Irish Coastguard were already committed to other engagements and attempts to obtain the assistance of a private flight operator also proved unsuccessful as did a request sent out to the UK's Royal Air Force. In the case of the latter it appears that an RAF aircraft was available but was then stood down. If this is so it is particularly unfortunate - and demonstrates the absence of any formal arrangement whereby the RAF might be engaged to carry out a mission of an important humanitarian nature on behalf of a citizen of this state. There are historical issues and issues related to us as an independent sovereign state which might engender a reluctance on our behalf to engage an arm of the UK Defence Forces but these are life and death issues and if an agreement can be made whereby an RAF air ambulance can be scrambled to transport a citizen of this state to a leading UK hospital for a life saving transplant then it should be done. The Health Services North and South are already engaged in co-operation across a significant number of fields including the practice of sending patients from here to the North to have medical procedures carried out and vice versa. Surely in the spirit in which that is taking place a more secure and reliable structure should be put in place for the transfer of patients to the UK for organ transplantation. If it must have the imprimatur of the two sovereign governments then let that be so. If there is a financial cost to this State for the engagement of an RAF air ambulance or a similar aircraft from one of the many private aircraft operators across the water then it should be borne. No one can put a price on the importance of a lung or liver transplant and as Minister, James Reilly, said the failure to transport a patient like 14 year old Meadhbh McGivern to London must not happen again.
Post a Comment