Opinion

Seanín Graham: Families who lost children to appalling medical failings deserve justice

Mr Justice O'Hara at the launch of the report into his 14-year inquiry into hyponatraemia-related deaths. Picture by Mal McCann
Mr Justice O'Hara at the launch of the report into his 14-year inquiry into hyponatraemia-related deaths. Picture by Mal McCann Mr Justice O'Hara at the launch of the report into his 14-year inquiry into hyponatraemia-related deaths. Picture by Mal McCann

"TOTALLY unforgivable" was how a mother who lost her nine-year-old child described the actions of health officials who "closed ranks" about what went wrong in her only daughter's hospital care.

Surrounded by her family, a broken Marie Ferguson said she understood that mistakes happen but it was the cover up she couldn't get past.

Her comments were echoed by other parents and siblings who were left in the dark for over a decade by health professionals.

The weighty report is one of the harshest indictments ever of the north's health service, from the "evasive and inaccurate" comments of its former chief medical officer to consultants and managers who withheld key evidence in order to keep their reputations intact.

At one point yesterday, Mr Justice O'Hara even referred to a medical certificate - which must be signed off by senior consultants - that was so "inaccurate" it was "medical gibberish".

While the incontrovertible findings of this inquiry will hopefully bring a small measure of relief to relatives, what is depressing are the fears expressed that "lessons have not been learned".

Concerns about a lack of transparency across the multi-layered health service still remain.

Following the ordering of the inquiry in 2004, a series of NHS scandals emerged over the next decade directly as a result of whistleblowers approaching the media.

While health chiefs have repeatedly criticised the media, Mr Justice O'Hara made a point of singling out the "important role" of UTV investigative journalists who first exposed the hospital failings relating to these children's deaths back in 2004.

He notes that without their documentary, the "close public scrutiny" of the inquiry would not have happened.

For the sake of the families, it can only be hoped that a health service that was "largely self-regulated and unmonitored" learns from these appalling mistakes and holds its hands up to any future wrongdoing.