Paddy Mullarkey of O’Reilly Stewart Solicitors had the honour to act on behalf of the family and next of kin of Mr Denis Doran, known as Denny, during the course of recent Inquest proceedings before the Coroner, Mr Patrick McGurgan. The full story of the death is available here, courtesy of the BBC website.
In a wide ranging narrative verdict, given on Friday 5th April 2019, the Court found that Mr Doran’s death was preventable and that multiple opportunities were missed to take a different course, thereby avoiding the tragic outcome. In finding that the death should have been avoided, the Court identified a series of systemic failings which contributed to the ultimate outcome including delays in assessment at an out-patient clinic due to resource issues and perceived inadequacies in the recruitment and appointment of locum consultants. The Coroner has directed that the Southern Health and Social Care Trust now conducts an urgent review into the deaths of other patients on the same waiting-list and to report back to the Court the findings of that investigation. The Court will also write to the Permanent Secretary of the Department of Health to bring to Mr Pengelly’s attention the circumstances of this Inquest to ensure that other similar healthcare fatalities may be avoided in future.
Jayne Doran, Denny’s daughter, on behalf of the family issued the following statement;
“From the beginning we have strongly believed that Dad was a victim of failings on the part of the trust. We have fought to have these failings identified and brought to the public’s attentions.
Dad sought help on more than one occasion and was fatally let down, not just by one man but by an entire failing system. A series of unforgivable mistakes have led us to where we are today. The coroner has validated our fears and suspicions and whilst our lives have been utterly destroyed we can only hope that these revelations prevent the destruction of another family.
In losing Dad we have lost a unique man whose priority in life was to ensure that his family was happy. He adored my Mum, his partner of 43 years, my brother and myself beyond words. He loved his two little dogs, Liverpool Football Club and the band ELO.
Had any of us been so fatally let down by the Trust he wouldn’t have given up this fight so neither did we.
Our sincere thanks to our solicitor Paddy Mullarkey, Gerry McDonald and all of those who have stood by us throughout this nightmare”
ORS April 2019