The Director of Public Prosecutions has decided that hospital staff at a north Cork hospital should not be prosecuted after they failed to fully report to gardaí the circumstances surrounding the death of an elderly patient.
Gardaí forwarded a file to the DPP last August after interviewing four staff at Heatherside Hospital near Doneraile following the accidental death of 75-year-old Hannah Comber from Charleville, Co Cork, at the hospital on June 22nd, 2006.
Ms Comber died from asphyxiation after she became entangled in a strap on a specialised therapeutic chair in the early hours of June 22nd, but staff did not mention that Ms Comber was caught in the strap when they initially informed gardaí of her death.
However, a postmortem by Assistant State Pathologist, Dr Margaret Bolster, at Cork University Hospital, revealed that Ms Comber had died from asphyxiation and gardaí immediately launched an investigation.
Officers interviewed four staff who were on duty the night Ms Comber died and it is understood that their investigation included looking at whether a member of staff may have inadvertently fallen asleep during which time Ms Comber accidentally choked.
A detailed file including statements taken from staff members and Dr Bolster's postmortem report were submitted to the DPP for a decision on whether any charges were to be brought over the initial reporting of Ms Comber's death. However, Insp Senan Ryan of Mallow Garda station confirmed to The Irish Times yesterday that gardaí have received a direction from the DPP that no charges should be brought against any of the staff.
Insp Ryan confirmed that, now that criminal proceedings are not contemplated, gardaí will start preparing a file on Ms Comber's death for the Coroner's Court so that an inquest can be held into her death as quickly as possible.
Heatherside Hospital is a continuing care facility run by the Health Service Executive (HSE) which caters for about 60 older patients with enduring mental health problems and is staffed by over 80 personnel made up mainly of nurses and support staff. An independent team appointed by the HSE to investigate the circumstances of Ms Comber's death is continuing to meet under the chairmanship of former chairman of the Midland Health Board, Pat Gaughan.
"Investigations of this nature are comprehensive and meticulous and, by their very nature, time consuming. However, the independent investigation team are cognisant of the need to finalise the investigation as soon as possible," the HSE said in a statement.
However, it is unclear if the inquiry team have yet interviewed staff on duty on the night that Ms Comber died and when asked about this, a HSE spokeswoman declined to comment.