Cavan General Hospital has apologised today to the parents of a 12-month-old child for the shortcomings in the care that their son received at the local hospital in 2023.
The apology was read out at the inquest that’s underway into the death of baby Luke Kelly, before the Coroner for Cavan, Dr Mary Flanagan.
The baby’s parents Barry Kelly and Helena Lyons from Shantemon in Co. Cavan gave evidence before the inquest eariler today.
They described their son as a “courageous little hero” who was the most “beautiful, smiley, placid child that any parent could ask for.”
The inquest heard that Luke had Shone’s syndrome which is a rare congenital heart defect, and he underwent major surgery at Children’s Health Ireland at Crumlin on two occasions.
Luke had his second operation at Crumlin in April of 2023 and a number of weeks later he was discharged and allowed home.
The inquest was told that, at this stage, the medical staff at Crumlin were happy with his prognosis and recovery with the family being told to go to their local hospital should any further problems arise.
In the months that followed, Luke picked up several respiratory viruses, and he was brought to the Paediatric Assessment Unit (PAU) at Cavan General Hospital a number of times.
The inquest into his death is centred around establishing the circumstances that led to his condition deteriorating at Cavan General Hospital over a five-day period beginning on the 1st of July 2023.
Luke was pronounced dead at the hospital on the 5th of July 2023, less than two weeks short of his first birthday.
An apology was delivered at the inquest on behalf of the acting General Manager for Cavan & Monaghan Hospital, Laura Waters.
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The inquest at Cavan Courthouse will continue tomorrow with Coroner, Dr Flanagan expected to return a verdict tomorrow afternoon.
