An elderly woman who was admitted and released from hospital with fractured ribs and who died a few days later should never have been discharged, it has been claimed at an inquest.
The family of Molly Grennan (87), Liffey Street, Inchicore, Dublin, told Dublin City Coroner's Court yesterday that their elderly relative was readmitted to Dublin's St James's Hospital two days after she was released.
Medical staff apologised to the family when she was readmitted and said she should never have been permitted to leave after her initial visit, her niece Louise Collins told the court.
"A young lady doctor came out and said she was sorry, but that Molly should have never been sent home in the first place," Ms Collins told the court.
Ms Grennan died on December 8th, 2004, from double pneumonia, which arose out of complications of the fractured ribs she had sustained in a fall at home.
She was admitted to St James's on December 4th but had been sent home following an X-ray after waiting almost 11 hours at St James's A&E department. Ms Grennan was brought back to the hospital two days later, on December 6th, when her family realised she was in severe pain.
Coroner Dr Brian Farrell recorded a verdict of death by misadventure.
Ms Collins brought her aunt back to hospital when she realised that her condition had seriously deteriorated in two days. "She was not at all well. She had turned yellow and was breathing heavily."
Flora Doherty said she brought her friend to St James's on December 4th following a fall at home and that they waited for 11 hours before an X-ray had been carried out. "She was in a lot of pain waiting in the A&E. She kept saying 'I'm so sore'." Following the X-ray, medical staff told Ms Doherty she could take her friend home. "They didn't mention a fracture, they mentioned bruising," she told the inquest.
Ms Collins asked Dr Farrell if the hospital had been negligent. The coroner replied that an inquest could not "comment on the standard of care at the hospital. When the papers are released in relation to her death, you may want to review them yourself".