A retired consultant anaesthetist died in a nursing home two days after being transferred from St James's Hospital, the Dublin City Coroner's Court heard yesterday.
Dr John McCooey (74), with an address in Harold's Cross, Dublin, died from lobar pneumonia in Orwell House Nursing Home on November 11th, 2001. This followed an operation to remove a tumour in a lung a month earlier.
At an earlier sitting the Dublin City Coroner, Dr Brian Farrell, had heard evidence that Dr McCooey had expressed unhappiness with his transfer.
His friend, Mr John Brandon, and a nursing home employee, Ms Kay Coffey, had told the inquest that Dr McCooey said he was not well enough to be in a nursing home. He said he should be back in St James's Hospital.
However, Mr Vincent Young, consultant cardiothoracic surgeon at St James's Hospital, said he was "very clear" in his opinion that Dr McCooey was fit for discharge. He had been in hospital for almost one month after the operation and had been only receiving nursing care for the last six days.
Dr Farrell said he acknowledged the concerns of friends and next-of-kin, but this did not change the verdict of "death by natural causes".
"I can't reconcile the difference of opinion, but at least these matters have been ventilated at the inquest," he said.
Dr McCooey was admitted to St James's Hospital as an emergency case on September 17th, 2001.
He was initially treated for pneumonia and later underwent surgery for cancer in his lung on October 11th.
Mr Young said his patient had multiple medical problems, did not take his diabetes medication and smoked over 40 cigarettes a day.
