The quality of care provided by the Irish hospital, where Indian dentist Savita Halappanavar died after being denied an abortion, is expected to be among the key factors to be examined at the inquest that opens on Monday.
A draft review into the 31-year-old’s death was told that staff at the University College Hospital Galway attributed Savita’s crucial symptoms of shivering and teeth chattering to the cold rather than to a life-threatening infection.
The report notes that at one stage “the radiator in the bedroom was not working” and a nurse went to fetch a blanket for her. But the shivering turned out to be symptoms of a serious infection taking hold in her system, which ultimately led to Savita’s death last October.
Her husband, Praveen Halappanavar, has highlighted the fatal tremors among a catalogue of concerns over the care given to his wife. Savita, hailing from Karnataka, died from blood poisoning on October 28 last year after doctors refused to terminate her 17-week long pregnancy, telling her that the foetal heartbeat was still present and “this is a Catholic country”.
Sources close to the hospital told the ‘Irish Independent’ that the use of the phrase will be “clarified” if it is raised at the inquest, in terms of who said it and the context in which it was uttered.
According to the newspaper, 16 hospital staff, including the consultants, doctors and nurses who treated her in her final days, is expected to testify at what will be the first public examination of her death. More people may be called as the inquest unfolds and a number of expert witnesses will also be asked to testify.
The inquest, scheduled for a week, is tasked with establishing the cause of Savita’s death and the circumstances leading to it. More than 50 statements have been furnished by health chiefs for the coroner Ciaran Macloughlin, who has promised the proceedings will be transparent and open to public scrutiny.