Courts / Ireland / Report
National Maternity Hospital seeks injunction halting Thawley inquiry
Summary
The National Maternity Hospital (NMH) has secured permission from Mr Justice Seamus Noonan to seek an injunction halting a statutory inquiry into the 2016 death of Malak Thawley. The hospital's judicial review challenges the Minister for Health's decision to order the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) to investigate patient safety issues, including out-of-hours surgery. The court heard that the surgery was performed by an inexperienced junior surgeon without supervision. Alan Thawley, the deceased's widower and applicant in related civil proceedings, previously settled his action for compensatory damages against the NMH. The NMH argues the Minister acted outside his powers, citing three prior reports, and claims the inquiry will undermine clinical confidence. Counsel for the hospital stated that no undertakings to pause the inquiry were received from the Minister or HIQA, necessitating the injunction to prevent the proceedings from becoming moot. The matter was adjourned, with the hearing of the injunction application fixed for Friday.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: National Maternity Hospital seeks injunction halting Thawley inquiry. Procedural stage: hearing_or_decision
When:
- May 8, 2016 Hearing Or Sentence
- 2018-03-05 Publication
Why: A statutory inquiry requires that it must be on foot of a specific concern, but the Minister had implied that it was because the provision of all hospital services outside core hours was unsafe, which the hospital says is irrational. CNI source report
Case subjects
Applicant
Places mentioned
- The National Maternity Hospital
- The hospital
- High Court
Topics
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