A 21-YEAR-OLD man who was found lying unresponsive on the floor of a seclusion room at the Central Mental Hospital where he was a patient, had been dead for a few hours before he was discovered, an inquest has heard.
Michael McDonagh was found lying dead on the floor of the seclusion room in Unit B at 6.15am on July 10th, 2010. State Pathologist Prof Marie Cassidy said he had been dead for a few hours prior to being discovered.
An inquest at the Dublin County Coroner’s Court heard Mr McDonagh, who was admitted to the hospital from St Patrick’s Institution in 2006, was being checked by staff every 15 minutes at the time of his death.
This entailed staff members observing Mr McDonagh through a glass panel. They did not enter the room to check his vital signs. The rules have since changed and anyone in seclusion is now under constant nursing observations.
A jury of nine returned an open verdict under the direction of the coroner Dr Kieran Geraghty. It recommended the installation of a monitor system if feasible in relation to privacy issues.