A Co Limerick woman has criticised the Health Service Executive after winning a lengthy legal battle over the death of her father in a local hospital.
The HSE settled the case brought by Hazel O’Kelly, from Croom, over the death of her father, Patrick, in the Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Limerick in November 2005 for an undisclosed sum.
The case highlights the difficulties some families face in trying to establish the full circumstances surrounding the deaths of loved ones in hospital. It also raised questions about the treatment of patients and their families in hospitals after a death. Ms O’Kelly said she had decided to talk publicly about her experience to ensure “no other family goes through what we went through”.
“This was never about money, it was about justice. I knew they failed my father, and I started asking questions two weeks after his death. But I never thought it would take as long as this,” she said.
Mr O’Kelly (61) died days after he was injured in a fall after trying to get out of his hospital bed during the night.
Suspected stroke
The hospital (since renamed University Hospital Limerick) did not offer the family – or carry out – a postmortem and failed to notify the coroner of his death for two weeks. The passage of time contributed to difficulties ascertaining whether his death was a result of the fall or whether it was caused by his original condition; he had been admitted after suffering a suspected stroke.
Staff maintained his death was caused by the stroke. However, the HSE settled after an independent expert engaged by his daughter concluded he died of “acute subdural haematoma caused by his fall from his bed”.
“If Mr O’Kelly had not had the fall on November 3rd he would have recovered from his cerebellar haemorrhage,” wrote neurosurgeon RD Illingworth of Charing Cross Hospital in London.
The hospital was unable to produce key records relating to the period he was on the ward and there were inconsistencies in the medical records.
