The chair of the HSE West Forum has said the leaked draft report investigating the death of Savita Halappanavar (above) shows there was "a great systems breakdown among the clinicians and medics" at University Hospital Galway (UHG).
Addressing the forum meeting yesterday, Pádraig Conneely (FG) said the final report into Ms Halappanavar's death was complete and circulated last Friday, with parties being given two weeks in which to respond before it goes to the Department of Health.
Ms Halappanavar died at the hospital on October 28th last year, a week after she presented with back pain and was found to be miscarrying. Mr Conneely told the meeting: "I'm told or I hear the final report is not substantially different to what was in the draft and that would be distressing and disturbing."
He also confirmed that as part of a Hiqa investigation, inspectors have been on site on Wednesday and yesterday at UHG.
Hospital general manager Tony Canavan said: "The coverage in the media of what was represented as contents of a draft report was as unacceptable as it was regrettable, showing no respect for the dignity of the patient and her family or for due process."