*Martin Abbott.
A SHANNON MAN died “with no dignity” at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) after he was found on the floor by hospital staff.
Martin Abbott was aged sixty five years when he died in December 2019. He may have been dead for over an hour before he was discovered by hospital staff.
An inquest into the death of the man who lived in Delginis in Shannon heard he died after falling from a trolley in the emergency department of UHL. A verdict of death by medical misadventure was recorded at the inquest.
Speaking this week, Martin’s daughter Anne Marie Abbott said, “My father wasn’t close to death but for him to have to die with no dignity is something that I don’t know if I’ll ever get over”.
Anne Marie described her father as “very strong” and “an absolute gentleman in every sense of the word”. He and his wife Mary had intended on travelling the world following retirement.
On the evening he died, Ann Marie said she raised concerns about her father’s condition with hospital staff. “I felt his breathing was a bit laboured and I wanted something to be done. I was met with a bit of rudeness and they told me that it was nothing to do with them that he was under the care of the medic team… I was told that the doctor would be down within the hour to see dad. It was there at 6am and we got a phone call from my mother just stating that the guards were at the door, that UL Hospital was trying to contact us”.
She said that the family went straight to the hospital and were told in a phone call that Mr Abbott had “a turn”. She added, “The nurse in charge and the registrar on call told us he was dead, that he was found in a collapsed state by the sink and they suspected it was a heart attack. That was all the information that they gave us. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing”.
According to Anne Marie, she first heard about an investigation into her father’s death via local media. She said, “They (UHL) did apologise for not contacting us, but I do feel that the communication should have been instant”. She maintained there was a need for reviews and examinations of how hospitals “do things and how they communicate”.
“Communication with families and also with other medical professionals, it’s breaking down everywhere. This is not just within UL Hospital Group, it’s nationwide.”
Ms Abbott said that her family still have a lot of unanswered questions but that “with the help of UL Hospital Group, hopefully, hopefully, I’ll get those”. She continued, “It could all be prevented if they look and see how they’re doing things. Accidents do happen, but it’s how they manage these accidents and these tragedies and being honest and trustworthy, instead of prolonging heartache and grief for families”.
“I will work tirelessly to try and help this and fix this myself. But it’s down to them at the end of the day,” she said.
At the inquest last Wednesday, legal counsel for UHL said the hospital was taking steps to resolve issues raised and repeated apologies for deficits in care to Mr Abbot’s widow and daughter.
In a separate statement, UL Hospitals Group said it wishes to express its sincere sympathy to the family on their loss, adding that in this case, standards in relation to patient safety fell short of what was expected. “We strive to uphold the highest standards of patient care and safety, and it’s clear in this case, these standards fell short of what was expected,” it said. It added, “We apologise for the deficiencies and shortcomings in Mr Abbott’s care and for the distress and trauma this has caused his family”.
