The High Court set aside an order joining consultant physician Kieran O’Connor as a defendant in a medical negligence case, finding that the passage of more than 11 years had left him unable to defend the allegations fairly on the available evidence.
Mr Justice Hogan ruled on 19 April 2013 that the delay created an acute risk of an unfair hearing. Dr O’Connor had no recollection of treating the patient and would have had to rely on clinical and nursing notes containing only passing references to him. The court said those records could not establish the extent of his involvement or support a fair assessment of his care.
The application concerned an ex parte order made in April 2012 joining Dr O’Connor to proceedings brought by Michael Adamson. Mr Adamson alleges that the North Eastern Health Board and another doctor failed to provide appropriate care at Louth County Hospital in early January 2000, including timely diagnosis and management of an intracranial abscess. The judgment records that Mr Adamson suffered severe neurological injuries. Those allegations were not determined in this application.
Mr Adamson first attended the hospital on 1 January 2000 with headaches and a swollen face. He was later referred to its Accident and Emergency Department after developing speech difficulties, and was transferred to Beaumont Hospital on 4 January for emergency surgery to remove pus placing pressure on his brain.
Hospital notes refer to Dr O’Connor being informed of Mr Adamson’s deterioration and discussing the case with the treating clinician on 3 January. A duty roster disclosed in April 2011 indicated that Dr O’Connor was the consultant physician on duty on 1, 2 and 4 January. The judgment said it was not clear from the records whether he had actively treated or managed Mr Adamson.
The plaintiff’s solicitors said they learned directly of Dr O’Connor’s involvement through supplemental discovery in April 2011. They applied to join him after being told in June 2011 that the hospital’s solicitors did not represent him and that he was not covered by the hospital’s clinical indemnity scheme. The judgment also noted that the possibility of joining him had been raised in correspondence in August 2010.
Dr O’Connor argued that the delay was inordinate and inexcusable and that the claim was statute-barred. The court declined to decide limitation at this stage, saying whether the claim was time-barred was not clear-cut and would require separate adjudication. It set aside the joinder because the delay had compromised the prospect of a fair trial of the allegations against him. The ruling did not resolve the underlying claim against the other defendants.