Savita inquest takes short adjournment to review reports

Date Published: 17-Apr-2013

The sixth day of the inquest into the death of Savita Halappanavar has now adjourned for a short break after resuming at County Hall this morning.

The Coroner opened the inquest by advising of a number of new documents and reports.

One of these is an audit trail of blood tests as previously requested by the Coroner.

The inquest also heard that Dr. Peter Boylan, expert witness, has amended his report.

Midwife Manager Ann Maria Burke was first to be questioned in the witness box.

She had previously given her statement evidence last week, however she had been recalled as she and Dr Ikechukwu Uzockwu had given varying accounts of the time of a phone call and the content of that phone call on Tuesday October 23rd.

The Coroner questioned the midwife manager by asking if there was a little bit of confusion that the doctor says he was told all vital signs were normal during the call in question.

She answered: ‘I am 100% certain that I told what I said in the statement with regard to elevated pulse’.

Dr. Ike was next to give his witness evidence again and maintains that he was told during the call that all vital signs were in the normal range.

He also maintains the time of the call was between 9 and 11pm, while the nurse maintains it would have been before 8pm.

Following questioning by Barrister Eugene Gleeson, the inquest heard that only one vital sign was recorded between 9pm on Tuesday October 23rd and 6.30 the following morning.

The inquest has now adjourned for a short break so that legal teams can review new reports.

It will resume in the next few minutes when the inquest will hear from expert witness Dr. Peter Boylan, a former Master at the National Maternity Hospital.