Court records reveal that Professor Brian Lenehan, the head clinical director of the Limerick hospital, was temporarily benched from his post following a teenager’s “avoidable” demise in 2022, which posed a serious and imminent threat to the security, health, and patient welfare. In December 2022, Aoife Johnston, a teenager from Co Clare, died tragically from treatable sepsis after being examined at the Emergency Department (ED) of the University Hospital Limerick, triggering an inquiry that led to Prof Lenehan’s suspension.
Prof Lenehan is currently contesting in the High Court for reinstatement in his hospital role, deeming his suspension by HSE chief executive Bernard Gloster as irrational and unjustifiable. Court records divulge a letter from Mr Gloster to Prof Lenehan dated 16th September, expressing apprehension over Prof Lenehan’s continued leadership at the hospital.
Mr Gloster expressed in his letter, cited in Prof Lenehan’s affidavit, that placing him in suspension was necessary as his tenure as head clinical director potentially posed an imminent, severe danger to the patient care at UHL and its ED. Due to the extent of Gloster’s worries and exceptional circumstances, along with Lenehan’s seniority and significant role, Gloster deemed it fit to have Lenehan take an immediate administrative leave with full pay while further examining his concerns.
Defending his case, Prof Lenehan referred to another sworn affidavit from Dr Joseph Devlin, the deputy chair of the hospital’s medical board. Dr Devlin stated that he hadn’t identified any actions or lack thereof on Prof Lenehan’s part that could rationally incite concerns about him being a serious immediate risk to anyone.
In a sworn statement, Dr Devlin refers to a dialogue he had with Mr Gloster on the 11th of September regarding the suggested suspension of Professor Lenehan. He urged the head of HSE not to take actions which are potentially detrimental and destructive, escalating the pain of Ms Johnston’s relatives.
Dr Devlin highlighted to the HSE leader that Professor Lenehan’s suspension could adversely impact the involvement of medical practitioners in top management roles. He reiterated Mr Gloster’s stated opinion that “employees should not bear the burden of organisational deficiencies outside of their control”.
Professor Lenehan, the clinical director of Limerick University Hospital Group, sought a High Court order last month to reinstate him in his position while an inquiry into disciplinary action is underway. The hearing was postponed to allow HSE to present its defense. The affidavits presented by Professor Lenehan in his application are yet to be disclosed publicly.
Mr Gloster announced last month on RTÉ that six staff members at the hospital were facing disciplinary proceedings and four were currently on administrative leave, without disclosing their identities. As a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Limerick Hospital, Professor Lenehan has not been suspended from his surgical duties and he had no involvement in Ms Johnston’s treatment.
Professor Lenehan’s sworn statement cites a recent analysis by ex-chief justice Frank Clarke which concluded that Ms Johnston’s death was “almost certainly avoidable”. The report also highlighted issues like overcrowding at Limerick Hospital, among others.
According to Professor Lenehan, the executive management team of the hospital, in which he’s an active participant, had agreed to a crisis intervention protocol to ease pressure in the emergency department during overcrowding. However, one division of HSE “strongly opposed” the protocol in July 2022, leading to its discontinuation. Issues encountered during Autumn 2022 in the emergency department resulted in the reintroduction of the protocol.
Also, Professor Lenehan made a point that the decision to restore the crisis intervention protocol was strongly resisted by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation.
Prior to the demise of Miss Johnston, the casualty department had become exceedingly packed, and the emergency procedure was meticulously put into practice. However, inexplicably, this protocol wasn’t enacted on the evening of December 17, 2022.
In a correspondence received by Professor Lenehan from Mr Gloster in July 2024, 22 apprehensions about Prof Lenehan’s performance as clinical director were brought to light, 21 of them directly relating to the weekend Miss Johnston was admitted in the hospital.
“No particular act or failure to act on my behalf was referenced in any of these apprehensions”, Prof Lenehan stated. “Mr Gloster has been unable to pinpoint any action or non-action from my office that could have led to or exacerbated her demise”, Prof Lenehan further explained in his affidavit.