‘Families deserve answers’: Silence on CUMH incineration investigation

FAMILIES impacted by the incineration of baby organs at Cork University Maternity Hospital deserve answers and closure, a Cork TD has stated, amid an ongoing investigation at the hospital.

It was revealed by RTÉ Investigates last year that multiple baby organs were incinerated abroad without the consent or knowledge of bereaved parents.

The incinerations took place twice during 2020 after the organs of 18 babies were sent to Belgium along with clinical waste.

Eighteen families were informed by CUMH in May 2021 that the organs of their deceased babies had been incinerated the previous year.

Speaking to RTÉ Investigates, Leona Bermingham, one of the people impacted by the incident, said: “They shocked me to say the organs that they retained have been incinerated and we won’t be able to get them back.

“My son’s brain went into a bin as if it was a piece of rubbish.

“Why would you put my beautiful son’s healthy brain into a bin?”

In a statement to RTÉ, a spokesperson for the hospital group apologised that the “distressing incident” had occurred, and highlighted “very extenuating and unprecedented circumstances” brought about as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

CUMH confirmed in September that an investigation had been launched into the incidents, and that this investigation was expected to conclude in November last year.

However, a Freedom of Information request from this reporter was refused by the hospital, which stated that the investigation was still ongoing and therefore, no information on the topic could be provided.

Cork Sinn Féin TD Thomas Gould said that the families affected by this incident deserve both answers and closure.

“I am extremely disappointed at the news that the investigation into the scandal at CUMH still hasn’t concluded,” said Mr Gould.

“At the centre of this are grieving parents and families who were potentially misled and had their trauma compounded.

“These families deserve closure,” he added.

“The HSE and the Minister for Health promised that this investigation would take place immediately and conclude quickly.

“Instead, we have heard no more.

“This state cannot continue to brush tragedies and scandals under the carpet and hope that we will all forget.

Mr Gould has contacted Health Minister Stephen Donnelly for answers on the topic. “We cannot forget what happened in CUMH, and these families deserve answers,” he said.

A spokesperson for CUMH stated that “the review will conclude once the ongoing engagement with all the families is completed, at which stage a report will be issued.”