University Hospital Kerry has apologised for deficiencies in the standard of care provided to a Dingle man.
Gearóid Ferris first attended the emergency department on 2nd April 2021 with abdominal pain caused by a bowel obstruction.
He was discharged after ten hours, despite still being symptomatic.
He returned to hospital later that day in excruciating pain.
Mr Ferris underwent three operations but died in the intensive care unit thirteen days later, on his 58th birthday (15th April 2021), after telling his wife and sons that he loved them.
A letter of apology from University Hospital Kerry was read out in the High Court on Tuesday.
The family’s Senior Counsel, John O’Mahony, with Doireann O’Mahony, Barrister-at-Law, told the High Court the apology is “of crucial importance” to the Ferris family, who he said had “suffered enormously.”
He described it as a profoundly tragic case.
The family’s representative claimed a major opportunity to save Mr Ferris’s life had been missed, and that his condition could have been simply treated if it had been addressed during his initial hospital visit.
Helen Ferris, of Ballinvownig, Dingle, along with her two sons, Douglas and Bernard, sued the HSE over Mr Ferris’s death.
The HSE admitted that Mr Ferris’s care fell below the appropriate standard.
A letter of apology from the hospital was read to the High Court, in which HSE management acknowledged and apologised unreservedly for the deficiencies in the standard of care provided to Mr Ferris and the ongoing distress and suffering this caused his family.
Mr Ferris had been in generally good health, and had registered to climb Mount Kilimanjaro.
Approving the €300,000 settlement and €35,000 statutory mental distress payment, Mr Justice Paul Coffey said it was a very sad and tragic case and extended his deepest sympathy to the family.
