The High Court has set aside the renewal of Dolores Broughan's Personal Injuries Summons over knee replacement surgery at Bon Secours Hospital Kerry, finding that the delay in seeking renewal was not justified by the need for further psychiatric evidence.
Ms Broughan's claim concerns surgery performed by orthopaedic surgeon John Rice on February 17, 2021. Her January 2023 letter of claim alleged that a foreign object had been left in her knee. Later particulars alleged that an intramedullary rod remained after the right total knee replacement and that further surgery to retrieve it was not advisable because of associated risks. The defendants have not had those allegations determined on their merits in this application.
The Personal Injuries Summons was issued on February 10, 2023 and expired on February 9, 2024. It was served four days late on February 13. The defendants' solicitors immediately raised the expiry and followed up several times during 2024 and January 2025.
An orthopaedic report had already been obtained in June 2023. The plaintiff maintained that psychiatric evidence was also required to address psychological injury, causation and prognosis. A psychiatrist was first contacted in January 2024, but after no response there was no further approach until October 2024. The psychiatric assessment eventually took place in March 2025 and the report was received in April.
The summons was renewed in July 2025 on the basis that difficulties obtaining expert reports amounted to special circumstances. The defendants then applied to have that renewal set aside.
Ms Justice Egan held that the orthopaedic report already addressed breach of duty and the physical consequences of the alleged retained foreign body. She was not satisfied that a psychiatric condition and prognosis report was reasonably necessary before the proceedings could be progressed or the summons renewed.
The judge also found that, even if such a report had been necessary, the lengthy period between June 2023 and October 2024 had not been adequately explained and did not demonstrate appropriate expedition. The special circumstances relied upon for renewal were therefore not established, and the renewal was set aside.