The Pro Life Campaign has welcomed the publication of the Health Service Executive (HSE) report into the death 
of Savita Halappanavar.
The report, published yesterday found there was inadequate assessment and monitoring to pick up the deterioration in her condition, a failure to adhere to hospital guidelines for managing sepsis and a failure to offer her all management options as she experienced inevitable miscarriage.
An earlier coroner’s investigation recorded a verdict of death by medical misadventure and found multiple “systems failures” in the treatment of Ms Halapannavar’s sepsis.
The HSE report found that a lack of recognition of the gravity of the risk to her health led to “delays in aggressive treatment”. It also warned that unless greater legal clarity is provided for doctors on when they can intervene to terminate a pregnancy, more women could die in Irish hospitals.
PLC spokesperson Dr Berry Kiely said the review “highlights yet again that the key issues in the death of Ms Halappanavar were multiple failures to properly assess and monitor her condition which resulted in a tragic failure to recognise the very real risk to her life posed by serious infection.”
“If this risk had been recognised the outcome might have been very different,” Dr Kiely said.
Dr Kiely said: “This confirms what the Pro Life Campaign has always claimed, that the way some politicians and media fastened on Savita’s tragic death as somehow bolstering their call for abortion legislation was misplaced and even opportunistic.
“Surely it is a moment for reflection on the rush to judgment in this tragic case? The Government has plans to introduce very radical abortion legislation and so far there has not been anywhere near the level of scrutiny needed.
“I hope the findings of the HSE and Inquest reports will give some measure of comfort to Praveen
Halappanavar and Savita’s extended family and that all the lessons to be learned will be implemented,” she concluded.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio about the findings this morning, the HSE’s national director of quality and patient safety Philip Crowley said Ms Halappanavar’s death from sepsis was a “rare occurrence”, and it was clear from the HSE report that “staff did not recognise what was happening”.
“Sepsis is becoming more common. As a health service we need to redouble our efforts to train people in the recognition and very aggressive management of sepsis and that is what we are going to do.”
