Vol. 550 No. 5
100 Ms Shortall asked the Minister for Health and Children if, in view of the case management review being carried out by a person (details supplied) of the handling of a case (details supplied), he will outline the remit, function and powers of this person in respect of this task; if he will undertake to make the report and findings of the review public; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9544/02]
The Deputy will be aware that the chief executive officer of the Eastern Regional Health Authority announced on 30 January 2002 that he had asked Mr. Justice Frederick Morris, former President of the High Court, to carry out a case management review of the care and services provided by the Northern Area Health Board to the young woman who died in January this year and referred to by the Deputy.
Mr. Justice Morris has advised the Eastern Regional Health Authority that he will be unable to carry out this case review due to additional work commitments following recent government assignments which he has been asked to undertake. Mr. Justice Morris has requested the authority to release him from his commitment, and this has been agreed.
The chief executive officer of the Eastern Regional Health Authority has stated that Mr. John Buckley, a former judge of the Circuit Court, has agreed to carry out the case management review. The review is being carried out in collaboration with the Northern Area Health Board.
The terms of reference of the case management review are: to carry out a review of the case history of the young woman concerned including the role of the Northern Area Health Board as the provider of health and child care services in the circumstances leading to the tragic death of the young woman; to review the nature and timeliness of the responses of the health and child care services to the welfare and needs, including developmental needs, of the young woman concerned; to examine the adequacy of the health and child care services provided to the young woman concerned by the Northern Area Health Board in the state including the services available to her after she reached the age of 18; arising from this review to make recommendations relating to the future management of such cases; and to prepare a report for publication on all of the above, acknowledging that the rights of privacy and confidentiality attaching to the young woman concerned and her family must be respected, and recognising that this may restrict the inclusion in such report of some material, ascertained during the course of the review.
I have been informed by the Eastern Regional Health Authority that Mr. Buckley has commenced work on the review.
