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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 20 Apr 1989

Vol. 388 No. 10

Adjournment Debate: Death of Dublin Girl.

Deputy Gay Mitchell gave me notice of his intention to raise on the Adjournment the subject matter of the death of a 19 year old girl from Crumlin.

First, I thank you for giving me the time to raise this matter on the Adjournment here today. Since my time has already been eaten into by the Vote, I will put the facts as best as I can in the time available to me.

The circumstances as explained to me by the family of the late Linda Carter, aged 19 years, are as follows. She was at a 21st birthday party in the Harcourt Hotel, Dublin, on the evening of Saturday 8/ morning of Sunday 9 April. She collapsed when her legs gave way. Hotel employees and her friends saw that she was quite unwell and sent for an ambulance.

She was taken to the Meath Hospital where she was detained. Her friends, two girls, accompanied her to the hospital. I am informed she was detained at the casualty department on what has been described to me as a trolley. Her friends were told to come back for her the next morning.

During the night she had stomach trouble and her friends were contacted by telephone, I think by the girl herself, and asked to bring clean clothes and underwear. This, in my view, is relevant since it may well have indicated that there was a brain dysfunction or at least a body dysfunction. When her friends called she was in the same department.

The first her parents heard of the trouble was when her friends called to the house looking for clean clothes. Her mother had understood she was staying the night with another local girl who was also at the party. When she left the hospital, I am told by taxi, she again had a turn. When she arrived home at midmorning on Sunday her mother put her to bed and commenced washing her clothes.

The mother went to Sunday Mass and when she returned she found the girl unconscious in bed. She summoned an ambulance. It appears that she had a further stomach upset at this stage. She was taken to St. James's Hospital where she was urgently attended to and, at approximately 5.30 p.m. on that Sunday she was transferred by ambulance in the company of a doctor and other medical staff to Beaumont Hospital and her family were told she was dead at approximately 7.30 p.m. Her parents were told she had had a brain haemorrhage and it was probably the second seizure.

The coroner confirmed to me this morning that the lady died from a brain haemorrhage following an aneurism and that she died from natural causes. The Minister, being a doctor, will understand, but for the record of the House, the coroner described an aneurism to me as being similar to a bicycle tyre that has a hole in it with the tube protruding from it. This weakness, this bubble in the tube burst and the girl had been bleeding for some time.

The questions that need to be answered and which the family want answered are:

1. Why was the girl left in her own clothes, particularly after her stomach problem, at the casualty department?

2. What tests or treatment did she receive?

3. Why did the Meath Hospital not contact the family to give an explanation unprompted, which would be at least the decent thing to do in circumstances of this kind, rather than waiting for the family to make an inquiry?

Mrs. Carter, although in a distraught state, offered the hospital her daughter's kidneys and any other organs that might be used to save the life of another person. Unfortunately, Beaumont Hospital could not take up this offer because the girl had been haemorrhaging for the best part of 24 hours. I now want to read onto the record of the House a letter received by me, unsolicited, this afternoon.

Dear Mr. Mitchell,

In regard to report in "Evening Press" of 19th April, where it is reported that you sought Dáil time to enquire into the death of Linda Carter, I had an experience of a similar nature myself in February 1982.

I left the office here at around 5.30 p.m. and walked to Amiens Street Station to catch the Sligo train (6.15 p.m.) to travel to where I live. As I was about to board the train I felt my legs getting weak and I collapsed into a state of unconsciousness. CIE officials contacted the hospital and I was removed by ambulance to the Meath Hospital. On my arrival at the hospital I was attended to immediately by two young doctors from "casualty". I was given all types of tests but the doctors appeared to believe that I had a heart attack. I was put into a small room and lay on a bed there overnight (fully dressed). In this room there were a number of "Winos" lying on mattresses on the ground and I assure you that smell of stale drink was not pleasant. The hospital got in contact with my home and my daughter collected me at around 9 a.m. when I was discharged. All this time I have a very bad headache and I remember telling the doctors that whatever was wrong that the problem was definitely in my head. When I arrived home I went to bed and had the good fortune to ring my own doctor — who came out to see me. He asked me if I had a "Lumber Pumpture" in the hospital. I did not know what a "Lumber Pumpture" was and he explained to me that it was the removal of fluid from the base of the spine for examination. I told him that I had not got such a test and he rang the hospital immediately. Later I got a 'phone call from the hospital requesting me to return when on a Lumber Pumpture being performed it showed that I had a brain haemorrhage. I was then rushed to Vincent's Hospital and put under the care of Mr. Donovan, who diagnosed an Aneurism. I was subsequently operated on and recovered.It was explained to me afterwards that when an artery in the brain burst it congealed and the blood started to flow again through the brain and I regained consciousness. If I had any type of blood pressure it would not have congealed and I would have died.

If I had not called in my family doctor I am satisfied that the bleeding would have recommenced with movement of the head and I would have died at home.

My sole purpose in writing you this letter is to bring to your notice that the death of Linda Carter was not an isolated affair. I cannot say why my trouble was not diagnosed in the "Meath" but I did think that the doctors in "Casualty" were grossly overworked.

Your interest may save a life. Keep up the good work. You may use the contents of this letter but do not disclose my name.

I want to make it very clear that I am not attacking the staff of the Meath Hospital nor the Meath Hospital as an institution. It seems clear that if this man's life had been saved where an aneurism had been the cause of the problem while this lady died from a brain haemorrhage arising from an aneurism which was not diagnosed and was sent home in such a condition, there are very serious questions to be answered. It is fair and reasonable that when a 19 year old girl died in these circumstances the matter should be explained in a full and frank manner. Furthermore the Minister should give an instruction to every hospital in the country that where this situation arises that the family should be contacted by the hospital, unprompted, given a full and frank explanation and a report on the matter within a given period. Justice must be done and must be seen to be done. If there was something wrong in this case we must ensure that there is no repetition.

In conclusion, I want to point out that the family in this case, the Carter family, have adopted a very reasonable approach to this matter. They have lost their 19 year old daughter, one of 11 children, in circumstances which none of us in this House would tolerate. The circumstances need to be explained in detail to that family and that should have been done, unprompted, long before now. I hope the Minister will have by now carried out an inquiry. If he does not have the full report of the inquiry with him, I would ask him to forward it to me and to the Carter family as soon as possible so that we can get to the bottom of this matter.

I would like to sympathise with the family of this lady who died in Beaumont Hospital. As Deputy Mitchell has said, she was admitted to the Meath Hospital at 3.40 a.m. on 9 April 1989. I have requested, as a matter of urgency, detailed reports from the three hospitals involved in the treatment of this person. It would be inappropriate for me to comment on this case until such time as the hospitals' reports detailing the medical and nursing care provided have been received and examined in my Department. I can, however, say that the preliminary information available to me clearly indicates that the patient received all appropriate medical and nursing attention during her stay in the Meath Hospital and was kept under constant observation. I mention this because it might appear from media comment that she was left lying on a trolley without attention.

Was she left lying on a trolley?

I understand from the early reports I have received that she was in the casualty department under constant neurological observation. On the question of aneurisms, because Deputy Mitchell raised the issue and without knowing the facts in this particular case, an aneurism is a bulge in a blood vessel and in all probability it is there for some time before it ruptures. It is not something that would be immediately diagnosed without very intensive investigation and that is not the sort of investigation that is carried out as a matter of routine.

I will certainly communicate with the Deputy as soon as the investigations into this case have been completed and I will try to ensure that the investigations are expedited.

Could the Minister give an indication when that might be?

I would hope within ten days.

The Dáil adjourned at 5.25 p.m. until 2.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 April 1989.

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