The family of a man who died following a fall in a nursing home yesterday expressed concern that only two people were caring for 50 patients on the night he fell. They also expressed concern at a 3 1/2-hour delay in calling an ambulance.
Dublin City Coroner's Court heard Mr Robert McNally (77), Rose Glen Avenue, Raheny, died of head injuries at Beaumont Hospital on August 1st. He fell in his bedroom at St Gabriel's nursing home, Edenmore, Raheny, on July 29th.
Mr McNally, a retired ESB linesman, was a respite patient in the nursing home while his wife was on holiday.
Ms Rita Browne, a care assistant, said she was on duty with Sister Michael, a nurse, on the night of the accident. Mr McNally was settled in bed but a short time later she saw him fall heavily. He was assisted back to bed but at 3.45 a.m. started to be unwell.
Sister Michael said Mr McNally was helped to bed and a commode was placed by his bedside and a call bell was put across his bed. A short time later he got out of bed on the opposite side to the commode and fell. He had a cut to his head but was conscious.
When a bureau doctor was contacted, she was informed it would be six to seven hours before he could visit. At about 4 a.m., Mr McNally was clammy and vomited. An ambulance was summoned. Despite an operation at Beaumont Hospital, Mr McNally died.
Ms Grainne Griffith, solicitor, for the McNally family, raised the issue of only two people in charge of 50 patients. However, the coroner, Dr Brian Farrell, said such a matter was outside the scope of the inquest.
He recorded a verdict of accidental death.
Outside the court, members of the family reiterated their concerns about the small number of staff on duty and the delay in calling an ambulance for a man known to be on Warfarin, a blood-thinning agent.