Inquest hears of Roscommon family’s 'disbelief and horror' over mother’s death after Galway Clinic surgery

A Strokestown man has described his family’s “tears and roars of sadness and disbelief and horror” following the death of his wife four days after she underwent surgery in The Galway Clinic in January 2023.

Bridget Conroy of Clooncullane, Strokestown died on January 29th, 2023, in University Hospital Galway.

The 71-year-old mother of 10 underwent heart surgery in The Galway Clinic on January 25th, 2023, and was transferred to University Hospital Galway after suffering three separate cardiac arrests in the early hours of January 26th.

Speaking at the beginning of a recent inquest into her death, which took place at the Galway Commercial Boat Club, Simon Mills – counsel for Dr Gordon Pate – expressed his client’s wish to “apologise from the outset” for her death.

The inquest heard that Mrs Conroy attended The Galway Clinic in January of 2023 when concerns about her heart were raised during her recovery from an unrelated procedure.

She was operated upon by Dr Gordon Pate in The Galway Clinic on January 25th, and became unwell during the procedure following a suspected dissection, or tearing, of an artery by a catheter used as part of the operation.

The inquest heard that Dr Pate inserted a number of stents to stabilise Mrs Conroy, but did not undertake an intervascular ultrasound to fully identify the extent of the internal bleeding.

Mrs Conroy was returned to her room after the procedure, where she was seen by her husband Matty for just 15 minutes, as Covid 19 restrictions were still in place at the time.

Later that night she became unwell, suffering three heart attacks just after midnight, before she was moved to University Hospital Galway.

Counsel for the Conroy family, Damian Tansey, described the out-of-hours emergency cardiac care at The Galway Clinic on the night as “a timebomb ready to go off at any time, like a grenade, and it did go off with catastrophic consequences”.

In his testimony to the coroner’s court, Dr Pate acknowledged that The Galway Clinic did not have the required equipment or personnel to deal with Mrs Conroy’s condition on the night of January 25th.

He referred to a review undertaken by the hospital, and expressed his belief that the presence of a second coronary intervention surgeon to consult with on the night would have been useful.

Speaking at the coroner’s court, counsel for The Galway Clinic, Harry Walsh, said that some aspects surrounding the review required further clarification from the hospital, which could not be provided at this time.

Mr Tansey also told the court that at the time of the incident there was “no CAT lab nursing staff on call to open the lab”.

Dr Pate said that this was something he was “trying to figure out” when he was called back to The Galway Clinic as Mrs Conroy’s condition deteriorated on January 25th.

He said that this situation was rare and that he had never before had to transfer a patient to University Hospital Galway during his 20 years working at The Galway Clinic.

Dr Pate also acknowledged that his decision not to use the intervascular ultrasound was “an oversight”.

He said that while this procedure carried its own risk, if he could go back again, he would have undertaken it.

The court also heard that after Mrs Conroy was transferred to University Hospital Galway, several intervascular ultrasounds were carried out to determine the extent of her internal bleeding.

Delivering a verdict of medical misadventure, the coroner expressed his sympathy to the Conroy family and commended them on how they handled themselves in this deeply traumatic situation.

Speaking about his deceased wife, Matty Conroy said she had been “central to everything in the family and for that we can never forgive you”.