Anger over Mayo hospital delay in treating boy (3) with burst appendix

MAYO University Hospital has apologised to a local family after their three-year-old son was left waiting in the emergency department (ED) of the Castlebar facility for over 13 hours before his burst appendix was diagnosed and treated surgically.

The parents of the child have been informed that a full review is underway into the matter and that measures and policies will be put in place to prevent it happening to another patient.

However, in a letter to local elected representatives, the boy's father has stated an apology and the promise of a review does not represent accountability.

He elaborated: "I want to know what happened to cause my son to be left so long in the ED with a burst appendix.

"I want to see action. I want to see accountability and someone to say: ‘That was my fault and this is now what is going to happen.’

"My role of a father is to ensure the safety and wellbeing of my children. The HSE is our primary health services and they have the responsibility to manage the care of our sick and vulnerable per their policy.

“Yet the HSE has failed my three-year-old son, that's an utter failure to him and society.

"I will not go quietly away. I want answers and I want results. Anything less is unacceptable."

When contacted by The Connaught Telegraph, one of Mayo's representatives on the HSE West Forum, Councillor Michael Kilcoyne, said he intends raising the matter at the next meeting of the authority in an effort to secure a detailed explanation for the family.

He said: "The letter from the family makes shocking reading and they are correct in taking a firm approach on the matter."

After feeling unwell with a pain in his stomach, the boy was brought to the ED on a recent date, arriving between 5.30 and 5.45 a.m. and being admitted to the facility at approximately 6.30 a.m.

Initial assessments determined that the child needed fluids, which was challenging for him in pain and feeling sick.

A doctor finally arrived at approximately 10.30 a.m., fluids were administered via a drip after the insertion of a cannula. At that point, the boy had been waiting in the ED for four hours.

At approximately 11 a.m., his father was told that due to the fact the boy had a stomach pain, a surgical team needed to assess him first before he was admitted to the pediatrics unit and, in the interim, blood samples were taken to determine if there was an infection.

At approximately 12 noon a nurse explained they were awaiting for a surgical team to assess the boy and this would probably involve an ultrasound test, which would be decided by a surgical team. Appendix is a risk that they needed to rule out, the father was informed by the nurse.

Now six hours in the ED, the boy was fearful, crying and in pain.

A pediatrics nurse pulled back the curtain to assess the boy. She apologised, he said, that the child should not be in ED for such an extended time. However, he had to continue waiting until the surgical team conducted its assessment.

The boys father recalled: "Hours passed, tears, fear and sickness, all that a three-year-old should not have to endure in an emergency department in Ireland in 2026.

"At approximately 6 p.m. a surgeon calls to the boy's bed. It is now 12 hours since his admission. He tried to assess the boy, but the child is sick, crying and in fear and does not want anyone touching him. So the surgeon does not do any assessment and instead asks that an ultrasound is performed.

"Soon after the boy is brought for an ultrasound and immediately it is determined that his pain is due to his appendix.

"He is now admitted to pediatrics at approximately 7 p.m. after more than 13 hours in the ED.

"At approximately 8 p.m. he is operated on, they find his appendix is burst and that it is 'messy' but all should be OK.

"This is not a fictitious story. This a lived experience of a three-year-old boy who was left to sit in ED for over 13 hours, in pain, while his appendix bust and no one came to help. Thirteen hours before someone decided: Let's look at this three-year-old and see what is wrong.

"How in 2026 is this remotely acceptable. How can this be tolerated? How can anyone believe that we have a working health service when a child is treated like this.

"This is utterly unacceptable."