*Jessica Sheedy
A YOUNG girl’s surgery at UHL leading to her death “should not have been performed,” the HSE have admitted.
Jessica Sheedy (18) from Bruff, Limerick, experienced complications in May 2018 during surgery to remove a large but benign tumour from her abdomen at University Hospital Limerick (UHL). She passed away three days later in the hospital’s High Dependency Unit after suffering multiple-organ failure and a significant bleed.
The HSE’s statement came after full admissions were made by Sheedy’s UHL doctor, who failed to sufficiently seek assistance from a vascular surgeon.
“Our investigations have concluded that adequate safeguards were not in place to prevent this high-risk operation,” the HSE have stated.
Sheedy’s surgeon, Dr Ashish Lal, has admitted to three counts of professional misconduct and 10 counts of poor professional performance at a fitness-to-practice hearing on Tuesday, January 20th.
Sheedy’s surgery “should not have been performed at our facility at that time,” the HSE have admitted. During the procedure at UHL, Sheedy had sustained a “massive haemorrhage in her abdominal area caused by an injury to her aorta,” RTÉ reported.
In response to this tragedy, HSE Mid West has conducted a further review of its surgical safeguards and clinical protocols to ensure that high-risk procedures are only conducted under the most stringent safety conditions.
Simon Mills, Lal’s senior counsel, put forward 19 conditions proposed by his client, which include a supervising consultant overseeing his return to practice and a request that Lal “should not be suspended from all general abdominal surgery,” according to the Irish Examiner.
An extensive plan would be needed for Lal’s return to surgical practice, Neasa Bird, counsel for the Medical Council, told the fitness-to-practice panel. However, she said this should not include his return to abdominal surgery.
Sandra Broderick, Regional Executive Officer of HSE Mid West, said, “There is no doubt that we failed Jessica and her family. The failure was one of significant proportions, with clear catastrophic consequences.”
“We accept full institutional responsibility for the catastrophic and irreparable harm caused,” said the HSE. They claim that Sheedy’s case is a “specific and avoidable failure in care,” reassuring the community that it is not a reflection of their wider surgical and medical departments.
“Jessica lost her life because of a series of significant and avoidable clinical errors in the lead up to and during her surgery.”
The HSE CEO and regional senior leaders have met with Jessica’s family to express these sentiments directly. “It is with a profound sense of remorse and regret that Jessica lost her life owing to our failures,” said Broderick.
“On behalf of the HSE Mid West senior leadership team, we offer our most sincere and unequivocal apology to Jessica’s parents, Ann and James, their family and friends for their unimaginable and devastating loss,” said Broderick. “Their ongoing loss is something we can only ever try to understand.”
Since Sheedy’s death, Lal has been on a seven-year administrative leave from the HSE. According to The Irish Times, Lal had worked as a consultant surgeon at UHL for over five years before Sheedy’s operation.
The inquiry heard last week how two other complaints were made to the Medical Council, of which Lal was also the subject. Both, however, were deemed not warranted of a formal fitness-to-practice inquiry.
The hearing for this case began on January 19th, and the committee will consider their judgment for delivery at a later date.
