Review ordered into care of man who died of sepsis after discharge from University Hospital Limerick

Michael Cuddihy (76) died in November 2023, nearly a year after the tragic death of sixteen year old Aoife Johnson in December 2022, also from sepsis at the Limerick hospital, following almost sixteen hours on a trolley.

Mr Cuddihy attended to the hospital's emergency department on November 20 last but was discharged within 24 hours .

He died two days later from sepsis as a result of a trapped gallstone.

A spokesman for University Hospital Limerick confirmed this evening that the deceased man's care is being examined under the HSE’s Incident Management Framework.

He said that a preliminary assessment has been completed and shared with the family. A number of recommendations were made and additional improvements identified following the meetings with the Cuddihy family.

The recommendations from the preliminary assessment have been implemented in full.

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The hospital expressed its deepest condolences to Mr Cuddihy's family "on their unimaginable loss. We are conscious that there are no words we can express to console them at this time".

On November 20 last, Mr Cuddihy felt unwell at home after suffering vomiting and severe pain.

His wife Áine called for an ambulance which took him to the Limerick hospital, the most overcrowded in the country.

Later that day, he was told he had a stomach bug and was free to go home but he asked to stay overnight as he was not feeling well, according to a report to be aired on RTÉ Investigates.

Despite his condition deteriorating during the night, he was discharged the following day.

Hospital notes seen by RTÉ Investigates show that having asked not to be discharged from hospital, Mr Cuddihy was moved to another section of the emergency department where overnight he was found vomiting by nursing staff.

The notes also record that he had a raised temperature, but it appears there was no medical follow-up.

His family said a scan was carried out on his heart and it was ruled out as a problem.

He was on a trolley for 18 hours without being assessed by a doctor. After discharge, he continued to suffer at home until his death on November 23.

The post-mortem results confirmed that a trapped gallstone had caused an infection, leading to sepsis and Michael's untimely death. The family met with the hospital in January and senior medical staff said they wished they could "rewind the clock".

His family claim that staff told them that the day Mr Cuddihy presented they were told of a shortage of 20 nurses.

However, in a statement this evening the hospital said there was an initial deficit of five nurses in the emergency department.

A number of staff were redeployed, leaving an actual gap of two nurses in emergency on that date.

Inspectors from the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) visited the hospital on the day of Mr Cuddihy's attendance and in a report concluded while improvements were evident, including additional staff, patient risk was still not fully managed and it desperately needed more beds.

The hospital at the time had a risk assessment for sepsis in place but a more advanced version was still not implemented. This was later introduced last January.

According to RTÉ Investigates, the family was told at their meeting that a wider review was not necessary “as all the deficits were identified in the preliminary assessment” and another investigation would not garner any further information.

However, the family were contacted this week to say a full review would now take place.