The family of a former seminarian who burnt to death in a Dublin hospital after his clothing and wheelchair caught fire have said he might still be alive if the hospital had provided a higher standard of care.
The family of Percy Hopkins (60), Royal Hospital, Donnybrook, Co Dublin, who was wheelchair-bound following a stroke and was also cognitively impaired, also called for increased observation of special-needs patients at the hospital to prevent a similar tragedy.
Kevin Hopkins and Nancy Fowler made their comments following an inquest into their brother's death that found he sustained full thickness burns to 35 per cent of his body when his clothing and wheelchair caught fire on April 29th, 2005. "No-one should die in an accident like that in Ireland today. There should have been enough staff to look after everyone properly," Mr Hopkins said outside court.
Dublin City Coroner's Court heard yesterday that Mr Hopkins was discovered on fire by staff at the adult disability ward after they were alerted by a fire alarm. He was rushed to St James's hospital but died four days later from complications of the burns, which affected mainly his upper body, including his head and chest.
A Garda inquiry discovered a cigarette lighter and a burnt magazine on Mr Hopkins's bedside trolley. However, Garda Daniel McCarthy told the court that it was unclear whether Mr Hopkins had been attempting to light a cigarette as no cigarette filters were discovered at the scene. Garda McCarthy also said that he could not estimate how long Mr Hopkins was on fire before the fire alarm was activated as he did not check the alarm.
At the time of the fire, there were two other patients on Mr Hopkins's ward but they were cognitively and physically impaired to such an extent that they weren't in a position to explain how the fire had started or go to his assistance.
Michael Guare, the night manager at the hospital who helped extinguish the fire, said he was "not sure" how Mr Hopkins had a lighter in his possession because it was hospital policy for staff to mind all lighters. However, care assistant Vivien Rosario told the inquest that patients' cigarettes and lighters were kept together in their bedside lockers. She added that staff would bring patients down to the smoking room to have a cigarette and that this regularly happened in Mr Hopkins's case.
Coroner Dr Brian Farrell returned a narrative verdict that outlined that his death "was most likely due to an accident involving a lighter but there were no witnesses". Dr Farrell said he would write to the hospital asking them to review their smoking policy because of the "conflict in the evidence".
Outside court, Mr Hopkins said that the inquest did not answer the many questions the family had in relation to the circumstances of his brother's death. "If someone was in that room, he could be alive today. He should have been on 24-hour watch."
He also questioned how his brother was able to operate a lighter in view of his severe disability and said his death "was still a mystery".
He added that there "wasn't enough time or personnel" put into the Garda inquiry. "We wanted to know how long he was burning before the alarm went off but there wasn't enough attention paid at the crime scene."
A spokesman for the Royal Hospital declined to comment on the standard of care Mr Hopkins received but offered their condolences to the family.