HSE reviewing hospital’s failings over response to doctor who raped nurse

David Raleigh

The HSE said it is “reviewing” the circumstances surrounding its failure to suspend a doctor at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) after it was initially made aware he had raped a nurse who was also working at the hospital.

The HSE Mid West, which is the health authority in charge of UHL, said it is “reviewing all of the circumstances to ensure all appropriate supports were made available to the victim”.

However, it admitted: “Dr Kila should have been suspended from clinical practice when we became aware of the assault.”

Moroccan native, Louay Kila, was a registrar doctor working at UHL when he raped a young UHL nurse after they had both separately been socialising in Limerick City and had later separately gone to the same apartment as part of two groups, on March 2nd, 2024.

Kila, (31), continued working as a doctor and was only voluntarily suspended from the list of medical practitioners in Ireland in March 2025, a full year after he raped and sexually assaulted the nurse.

Last week, Kila was convicted by a jury following his trial held at the Central Criminal Court, sitting in Limerick, of raping the woman while she was asleep.

Kila was also convicted of sexually assaulting the woman despite her pleading with him to “stop”.

On Friday, Kila was sentenced to eight years in prison for the rape. He received a concurrent four-year sentence for the sexual assault. He showed no emotion as he was led away to jail.

The court heard Kila, with an address at Cois Luachra, Dooradoyle, Limerick, raped the woman as she was sleeping on a couch at a friend’s apartment after a night out.

Kila had earlier encountered the victim and her friends at a club in the city and he arrived at their apartment.

The court found that Kila told gardaí lies, that he and the victim engaged in consensual kissing and touching on the night, and that the woman made up the complaints against him because she was concerned her then boyfriend would find out.

A HSE statement issued to this reporter from the health authority running UHL said: “HSE Mid West notes the sentencing of Kila, he should have been suspended from clinical practice when we became aware of the assault. The evidence of the victim in this case was clear that our failure to do so added to her suffering”.

“We are sorry for the additional hurt this caused the victim. Our failure to promptly take the appropriate action to make the victim feel safe at work does not reflect current practice and policy.”

“In light of the victim impact statement and the evidence heard during this appalling case, we are reviewing all of the circumstances to ensure all appropriate supports were made available to the victim.”

“We are taking this situation extremely seriously and the welfare of our staff remains our priority.”

HSE Mid West said that “a range of supports are available to staff who suffer violence or trauma both inside and outside of the workplace”.

It added that “protective measures were put in place for the victim based on her individual requirements following her identification of the assault”.

The victim, who said she did not want to waive her legal right to anonymity, faced Kila at his sentencing hearing and told him: "I got justice."

Addressing Kila, she said: "To my rapist, I stood up and I am holding you accountable for your actions and I got justice."

"I hope to be an inspiration for any woman who has dealt with an incident like this and encourage them to stand up and hold their rapists accountable," she said.

The woman said that prior to the rape and assault she had been "excited" to be nursing at UHL, but that after the rape she "couldn't" return there.

She said she felt "physically sick" walking back into the hospital, where Kila continued working for a time.

"I feared for the patients of UHL, I knew that I had gotten out of the hospital but what about those who were left behind?"

The woman concluded: "I am a strong woman, I will heal from this, and I will be a stronger, more resilient version of myself. I will never let that man take that away from me."

The court ordered that Kila be placed on a register for convicted sex offenders, which means he must continue to engage with gardai and the probation service after he completes his sentence.

Part of the order, as a matter of routine procedure, includes that Kila must notify gardaí of any change to his address after he is released.