Elizabeth Rourke died when a routine operation went tragically wrong
A MAJOR report into the death of a patient has pointed to management failings and poor practice at the Hospital.
A high dependence on locum doctors, a poor recruitment process and a lack of accountability have also been highlighted as possible contributory factors which led to the death of Elizabeth Rourke.
Mrs Rourke died on 17 October 2006 after a routine gynaecological procedure went tragically wrong. One of her major veins was perforated, which led to a massive blood loss and her death.
Dr Dolores Moyano Ontiveros carried out that procedure and was charged, then
acquitted, of Mrs Rourke’s manslaughter. A subsequent report by independent UK consultancy Verita yesterday pointed the finger to a series of failings within Health.
• Full reports and analysis in today’s Jersey Evening Post
Article posted on 2nd February, 2010 - 3.00pm
12 Article Comments
quite perculiar that the some senior management at the hospital took early retirement before the findings were published
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Just another example of States non-accountability !
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And so was SS. so wide of the mark in what he had to say about this..??cover ups…those responsible should be sacked and prosecuted where applicable, and a strong message to anyone in management that we will not be paying hundreds of thousands in wages for someone to play the guitar while we pay for it…we could have had Eric Clapton cheaper.
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I’m just wondering under whose watch the rot started and was allowed to continue?
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I’ve read the whole of the Verita report and it demonstrates serious mismanagement at senior management level within H&SS. In particular there were significant clinical governance failures that had there been effective, competent managers in place at the time would not have happened. In addition there is clear evidence of a culture of fear, cover up and in the case of the handling of the internal SUI total incompetence, the term headless chickens comes to mind.
So who was in charge of such critical management responsibilities between 2006 and 2009, well that would be Rose Naylor Director of Nursing and Governance, Richard Jouault Director of corporate planning and performance management and Richard Lane Medical Director. How can any of these people remain in post following such a damming report?
Now is an opportunity to sweep clean, change the culture and make H&SS a safer place.
The public have been duped, just because staff seem kind and caring does not mean they or systems they work in are competent and safe.
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So it seems that you are no safer in the Hospital than you would be on the Streets of St. Helier on a saturday nite….Does anyone really want to actually live on this island anymore? If half of the headlines in this paper , are even half true, Who would find such a fiasco of blunders, extravagant spending, poor and fatal health care and mean streets appealing…. I know the lies, cover-ups and back door deals have always been the slippery way for the island to slide slowly forward in the world, but in the last 20 years or so it has become an international joke…. That goes without mentioning the poor people who live there by either circumstance or some crazy choice…Anyone would think that you were dealing with a massive city, millions of people slipping through the cracks, drug dealers and badly monitored social programs and crooked government…. but , an 45 square mile island, surrounded by water holding 80,000 people…. is it really that difficult… With the offshore revenue Jersey has enjoyed for sooooo many years, there should be far fewer social problems, far more care taken of the elderly and sick, far less ‘ inner-city like crime and far less financial blunders ….. HOW ON EARTH DO ALL OF YOU PEOPLE STAND IT ? Day after day, blunder after blunder, waste after waste, town beating after town beating……. ? Just wondered ! ! !
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With all due respect to the Rourke family who have my sympathy, this is unfortunately another example of no matter how much money is spent, the lack of basic governance, control and accountability has led to a very sorry situation. I do hope the Verita report findings are implemented with pace so this is never repeated.
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I was horrified by the “piece of meat” attitude I received duing my pregnancies and subsequent births. My GP termed the system “The Sausage Factory”.”Arrogant” is what I would term the team and that term would apply to those leading ( and I use the term lightly ) in particular. They have got all they deserve in a damning report and few will now accept their opinions or practices without question. High time too.
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Big Bean #4
If that was some kind of side-swipe at Syvret you will have to try harder.
He tried to deal with the rot. The Rot complained about him and the CofM’s believed them. He lost his job.
Unjustly, it now seems.
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“5 gross misconduct”
You seem to have left someone out, the politician in charge is still drawing his hefty salary.
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No 5,how I agree with you.How can Mr.Joualt as the Acting CE of Health remain in post.My sympathies go to the Rourke family.Whilst nothing will bring back their loved one,lessons must be learned and disciplinary action taken where necessary.Mike Pollard ,the ex CE also needs to answer questions and ultimately Bill Ogley,who instead of playing political games,should have had his finger on the pulse re these management issues at health.
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The fact remains that the person who carried out the operation should have been humble enough to admit on the day in the question that she could not work without Mr Day’s assistance.
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