A new hearing should take place into a complaint to the Medical Council from the family of a student who died of a bleed to the brain three days after being rushed to hospital, the High Court has ruled.
Lisa Niland (19) died in Sligo University Hospital in January 2017 three days after she was brought there after collapsing in a fast-food restaurant due to severe head pain and dizziness.
Ms Justice Mary Rose Gearty on Friday ruled there should be a new hearing by a Medical Council committee over a complaint from Ms Niland’s family about the handling of an investigation into alleged negligence by a doctor who treated her. However, the judge refused the family’s application for there to be a High Court hearing into the matter.
A separate High Court action by the family against the HSE and the hospital was settled nearly four years ago with an apology from the hospital.
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Last October, Lisa’s parents Gerard and Angela Niland and sister Amy Niland, from Drimbane, Curry, Co Sligo, sought permission to bring a judicial review against the Medical Council and its Preliminary Proceedings Committee over their complaint about the fairness of the investigation into her medical care.
The family wanted to challenge the procedures adopted by the committee in reaching a decision over alleged negligence of a treating doctor on the night of Ms Niland’s untimely death. They also claimed the respondents did not accept submissions from them over alleged failures of care and did not consider a report prepared by the family’s medical expert.
There was also an allegation of objective bias about one member of the committee and a professional relationship with the treating doctor.
They sought the quashing of a decision about the complaint they made to the committee, communicated to them on May 10th last. They also sought an order remitting the matter to a reconstituted committee for fresh consideration.
Ms Justice Gearty had adjourned the October application to allow the proposed challenge to be heard in the presence of the respondents.
The respondents then agreed to concede certain matters, including in relation to objective bias and having the case reconsidered by a different committee. It was also agreed that certain submissions could be made on behalf of the family before the new committee. However, the family objected to this and wanted a hearing before the High Court because they had concerns about the whole investigation.
Ms Justice Gearty ruled that the family is entitled to the reliefs sought and she remitted the matter for hearing to a new committee. However, she said she was not prepared to grant them permission to have a High Court hearing.
She said she was sympathetic to the family and understood why they wanted a High Court hearing, but this was “a misguided view as to what they can achieve”.
“Any mistrust on the applicants’ [family’s] part cannot be addressed by removing the decision from a body that is, under law, charged with making the decision”, she said.
She awarded the family their costs and adjourned the matter to next month to enable them to consider her ruling.
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