{"id":340788,"date":"2026-03-11T16:01:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T16:01:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/340788\/"},"modified":"2026-03-11T16:01:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T16:01:11","slug":"hse-issues-formal-apology-after-bryonny-sainsbury-died-from-horse-crush-injuries-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/340788\/","title":{"rendered":"HSE issues formal apology after Bryonny Sainsbury died from horse crush injuries \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Health Service Executive <\/a>(HSE) and Minister for Health have issued a formal apology to the family of a 25-year-old woman who died after suffering crushing injuries<\/a> from a horse, stating the \u201chealth system failed\u201d her.<\/p>\n

Bryonny Sainsbury, from Co Longford, was crushed while assisting a vet inspection of the animal in a stable on August 26th, 2021, and died due to cerebral injuries in Beaumont Hospital five days later.<\/p>\n

The hairdresser was transferred to the Dublin hospital after spending three days in the ICU at Midland Regional Hospital in Mullingar.<\/p>\n

In January, the Sainsbury family settled five actions against the HSE and received an apology from Mullingar<\/a> hospital.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, the HSE published a systems analysis review into her care which found there were \u201cadditional opportunities for escalation of concerns\u201d about her condition that could have resulted in an earlier admission to critical care.<\/p>\n

\"20\/01\/2026 Bryonny20\/01\/2026
\nBryonny Sainsbury mother Alison speaks to the media outside the Four Courts today.
\nPhoto Collins Courts <\/p>\n

The review also found there were opportunities for engagement between the two hospitals that would have enabled timely interventions and improved care, and that the understanding and practice of on-call in the Mullingar hospital \u201cdid not support a robust system of management for surgical patients out of hours\u201d.<\/p>\n

The report also highlighted a lost opportunity around discussions with the Sainsbury family in relation to Bryonny\u2019s condition, adding there was \u201csuboptimal communication\u201d between senior clinical decision-makers in the two hospitals and \u201csuboptimal\u201d documentation of care in her healthcare record. <\/p>\n

According to the review team, departmental and interdepartmental communication among decision-makers in the Mulligan hospital was \u201cunstructured\u201d.<\/p>\n

The report made 10 recommendations on foot of its findings to improve services and minimise patient risks.<\/p>\n

In a statement on Wednesday, Bernard Gloster, chief executive of the HSE, and Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill acknowledged \u201cwithout reservation, that the health system failed both Bryonny and her family, and for this the Minister and the HSE have expressed our deepest and unqualified apology\u201d.<\/p>\n

The statement said the Sainsbury family met the Minister and Gloster and told them about how the \u201clengthy review and legal processes\u201d caused distress following Bryonny\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is clear that the communication, support, and respect they needed and deserved were not provided. This was unacceptable,\u201d the statement said. <\/p>\n

Carroll MacNeill commended the Sainsbury family for their time, \u201cgenerosity and willingness to help improve the health service and protect others\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Sainsbury family may never know how many lives will be saved or improved through their advocacy and sharing their most painful of experiences. This is the poignant but enduring legacy of their beloved Bryonny,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to reassure them of our collective commitment to improve the culture in our health services so that everyone experiences the support they deserve at their times of greatest trauma and distress.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cThere is no space in our health services for not listening to families, for not treating patients and families with respect and compassion, for not communicating openly and honestly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gloster said the organisation is \u201cfully committed to driving the cultural and systemwide changes required to ensure that no other family endures what the Sainsbury family has been through\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe reaffirm our commitment to the core values of listening, compassion, respect, and open communication \u2013 values that must guide every interaction within our health system.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope that today\u2019s apology, together with the publication of the review, offers some measure of acknowledgment and support as the Sainsbury family continue to live with the loss of Bryonny. We again extend our heartfelt condolences.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Health Service Executive (HSE) and Minister for Health have issued a formal apology to the family of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":340789,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2120,61,60,1421,57,43],"class_list":["post-340788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-hse","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-jennifer-carroll-macneill","tag-mullingar","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=340788"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340788\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/340789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=340788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=340788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=340788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}