Hyponatraemia Inquiry was 'remarkable account of lies, deceit and cover-up'

The inquiry looked at the deaths of five children between 1995 and 2003 and found four deaths were avoidable.

Hyponatraemia can occur when the level of sodium in a person’s blood becomes abnormally low.

Prof Gabriel Scally said NI’s Department of Health could have saved the lives of some of the five children whose deaths were investigated by the inquiry and that it should have had proper systems in place.

An adviser to the chair of the 14-year-long inquiry, Prof Scally said: “This is a remarkable account of lies, deceit and cover-up, of negligence and of secrecy and deliberate obstruction.”

The department said the serious failings in the report were a source of “shame for all involved in health care”.

It welcomed the inquiry chairman’s comments that the health service environment has “most definitely been transformed”.

The inquiry looked into the deaths of Adam Strain, Claire Roberts, Raychel Ferguson, Lucy Crawford and Conor Mitchell.

Speaking exclusively to BBC News NI, Prof Scally said people clearly were not being held to account and questioned the prevailing culture among health professionals.

He also said a “toxic” relationship existed among some health professionals in Northern Ireland.

“I have seen it happen before but only in individual institutions or amongst individual teams. Here it seems to have been a widespread pattern almost across the province.”

He criticised how the health service was managed and the pace of response to the inquiry’s 96 recommendations and the people, he said, failed to deliver to the inquiry.

As well as saying the criticisms were a source of shame, the department also said “that includes the grossly deficient care provided to the children and the response of the system to the bereaved families’ entirely legitimate concerns”.

It also said it must do all in its power to ensure the failing are never repeated.

Prof Scally, 63, is a specialist in public health who qualified as a doctor from Queen’s University, Belfast.

Born in Belfast, he trained in general practice and then in public health.

After serving for seven years as Director of Public Health in the Eastern Health and Social Services Board in Northern Ireland, he held a number of senior posts.

He holds a number of academic roles including Professor of Public Health and Planning in the University of the West of England.

He stressed the importance of getting justice, following the publication of the hyponatraemia report in January.