The family of a 71-year-old Cork man who died in Mercy University Hospital Cork during the Covid-19 pandemic have settled their High Court action against the hospital.
Shirley Barry, daughter of the late Michael McGowan, told Mr Justice Tony O’Connor on Thursday that her family believed their father was “treated appallingly”.
Ms Barry, of Ballycotton, Cork, had on behalf of the extended family sued the hospital over the death in January 2021 of Mr McGowan, of Dublin Hill, Cork city, from heart failure.
The settlement against the Mercy University Hospital was without an admission of liability. The court heard a “full and robust” defence had been filed in the case.
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Mercy University Hospital had said it would be unfair and unjust to impose liability upon the hospital in circumstances when they were administrating the public health system in unprecedented circumstances during the Covid-19 pandemic.
It was also said the pandemic led to an unprecedented interruption to normal healthcare activities and said outpatient services such as echocardiograms were severely affected and were mainly carried out on inpatients.
The McGowan side had said the hospital continued to perform echocardiograms on an outpatient basis through the Covid emergency. They said that a freedom of information request showed that 747 echocardiograms were performed on an outpatient basis at the hospital between March 2020 and January 13th, 2021.
At issue in the case was the allegation over the ongoing care of Mr McGowan, who had been diagnosed in 2013 with aortic stenosis, a problem with a valve in the heart.
Elaine Morgan SC, for the family, said such a diagnosis required rigorous follow-up care including echocardiograms, which test the heart.
She said while Mr McGowan had the echocardiograms up to 2019, there was a “perfect storm” as regards care at the hospital and an alleged failure to follow up with the pensioner on a routine basis.
Ms Morgan said he had his last echocardiogram in 2019 and “tight surveillance with Mr McGowan to be seen every six months“ was recommended.
“Unfortunately that did not happen. He had no echocardiogram again before his death,” she said.
Ms Morgan said 20 months after his 2019 echocardiogram, Mr McGowan was admitted to the hospital on January 14th, 2021, in relation to blood loss on an unrelated condition.
It was their case, she said, this should have been a red flag for somebody with the valve problem. Mr McGowan died seven days later from cardiac arrest.
Ms Morgan told the court the contention by the hospital in relation to the Covid pandemic “does not in our view stack up”.
Mr Justice O’Connor noted the settlement.
