Grieving Tipperary families facing ‘distress and indignity’ amid coroner crisis

Grieving Tipperary families are facing “distress and indignity” amid uncertainty over coroner services at University Hospital Waterford.

Tipperary South Fine Gael TD Michael Murphy raised the issue with Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan in the Dáil recently.

Deputy Murphy said: “We are little more than 40 days from a cliff edge that the Minister has just described as a ‘critical juncture’.

“From 1 January, post mortems will no longer be carried out at UHW, a service that carries out 700 cases every year, which are often the most tragic and traumatic of deaths.

“Behind every one of these cases is a family in shock waiting for answers and waiting simply to lay a loved one to rest.”

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He went on to ask the Minister for Justice what steps he is going to take to resolve the situation.

“Yet today, with the deadline fast approaching, there is no clarity on who will perform these examinations, where they will take place, or how families in counties Waterford, Wexford, Kilkenny, Carlow and Tipperary will be protected from delays that could last days or weeks.

“How will the Minister ensure that bereaved families in the south east are not plunged into a crisis of delays, distress and indignity from 1 January?

“Families deserve certainty, they deserve compassion and a plan, and they deserve it now.”

In response to Deputy Murphy, Minister O’Callaghan said that he shared his concern regarding the situation.

He said that it was a “very traumatic experience” for a family if there is a long post-mortem examination.

He added that he will seek to review the laws around post-mortems and when they are deemed necessary.

Minister O’Callaghan continued: “My Department has been engaging with locum pathologists with a view to agreeing a solution to the situation in UHW from 1 January next.

“This approach is an unfortunate necessity to minimise any impact on bereaved family members who are engaging with the Coroner Service.

“I am conscious that the situation in University Hospital Waterford has reached a critical juncture and an urgent solution is required.

“I will consider and continue to seek to engage on this issue but it is an issue over which I do not have full control in light of what pathologists are doing at present.”

Approximately 700 autopsies are conducted at University Hospital Waterford every year.

All six pathologists at the hospital have confirmed that they plan to withdraw their services from January 1.