New investigation ordered into death of teenager at Limerick hospital

Former chief justice Mr Justice Frank Clarke has been appointed to investigate the death of 16-year-old Aoife Johnston in University Hospital Limerick a year ago.

Ms Johnston, from Shannon, Co Clare, died from meningitis in the hospital after a lengthy wait for treatment.

Her death was the subject of an internal Health Service Executive report, which was given to its chief executive Bernard Gloster earlier this month.

Announcing a further investigation into Ms Johnston’s death on Monday, Mr Gloster described the initial report as “significant in its findings about the care of Aoife and the operation of the hospital”.

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Mr Gloster said he was satisfied “questions of accountability need to be addressed”.

“I have appointed the former chief justice Mr Justice Frank Clarke (retired) to conduct a formal investigation into all of these matters, to make findings and to report to me. The outcome of this investigation will inform any further decisions to be made.”

“There are many situations in health and social care where analysis of adverse incidents can glean learnings for improvement. There are also situations where clearly further investigation is required and I am satisfied this is one of those.”

The terms of reference of the investigation will be finalised in the coming weeks, he said, adding that he had asked Mr Justice Clarke to conduct a “timely but thorough” investigation.

“I will not be in a position to provide any further details at this time, but again take the opportunity on behalf of the HSE, at the time of her first anniversary, to apologise unreservedly to Aoife’s family, recognising no words of mine can ever take away their loss.

“I do however assure them that the issues raised in the report will be investigated thoroughly.”

At the teenager’s funeral before Christmas last year, mourners were told Aoife had brought “light and colour” to many people’s lives. She was described as a “beautiful young woman”, a “wonderful” daughter and a great classmate to her fellow pupils in St Caimin’s Community School, where she was in 6th year.

Mourners heard how her parents, James and Carol, are going through “every parent’s worst nightmare”.

On the day the teenager died, December 19th, 2022, UHL said it was dealing with “unprecedented” demand on its emergency department, which had led the hospital to cancel “all but the most urgent elective surgeries”.

In a statement at the time, the hospital warned anyone with a “less urgent condition” attending the emergency department that they would probably face “an exceptionally long wait for care”.

Doctors and staff had repeatedly raised concerns about overcrowding in the hospital’s emergency department. More than 70 doctors signed a letter last year warning that persistent overcrowding and unsafe working conditions at the hospital were putting patients at risk. The letter was sent to hospital management and Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly.

Mr Donnelly has written to the HSE about “clear failures” in governance at the hospital and has raised concerns about staffing levels in the ED on the night Ms Johnston attended.

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