Aoife Johnston inquest hears that doctor left HSE shortly after teenagers death

A doctor who was on duty in the emergency department at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) on the day Aoife Johnston was there, said they were working in an “impossible situation”, and was tearful on the witness stand.

Giving evidence on the second day of the inquest into the 16-year-old's death, Dr Leandri Card, senior house officer, said that she no longer works for the HSE and now works for a private clinic.

On the night of December 17, 2022, she was one of three doctors covering zones A, B, C, paediatrics and resus.

She told the inquest there were 191 patients in the department and that the resus area was full -  “every room and every inch of floor space.”

Dr Card told the court she had prescribed medication to Aoife throughout her shift, and it was accepted by other witnesses that prescribing pain relief or medication to stop vomiting was common without seeing a patient.

It was acknowledged that this was not best practice, but that it happened regularly, due to how busy the emergency department at UHL is.

However, Dr Card didn't see Aoife until 6am on December 18, 2022, when a nurse said that her mother was very distressed.

She said at that point, there were at least 10 other Category 2 patients to be seen ahead of Aoife, but she did go see her.

Dr Card said her impression was that it was a viral illness and would be treated as if it is was meningitis.

She said the resus area would have been more suitable, but that the resus staff were already over capacity.

“The clinical picture was not of a patient who would deteriorate as quickly as she did, I expected the opposite,” she said.

The inquest continues this Tuesday afternoon.