Elderly man died after 'unwitnessed' fall in UHW, inquest hears
The 90-year-old man fell at University Hospital Waterford.
A 90-year-old man passed away soon after suffering a fall at University Hospital Waterford.
At a recent Coroner inquest, the family of the man heard about the circumstances surrounding his death.
In March 2024, the man had been receiving in-patient care for a fortnight at UHW. The night before his scheduled discharge date from the hospital he suffered a fall, which went unwitnessed. His next of kin were informed of the fall and that his condition was rapidly deteriorating.
Gardaí attended the hospital in the early hours of the morning to confirm the death.
Consultant Pathologist Professor Rob Landers gave expert testimony at the hearing. The post mortem revealed a hematoma on the left side of the patient's skull. A CT scan showed significant bleeding. The cause of death was cranio-cerebral trauma, with ischemic heart disease a contributing factor.
The family inquired into how and why the man fell. One relative said that she received a call from the hospital earlier on in the evening and told that there was 'no need' for her to go in to see the patient. Around two hours after the call, she received another call informing her that the patient had only 'two hours to live'.
They raised issue with Prof Lander's detail about the patient having a 'history of falling', stating that he did not have an extensive history of falling. Prof Landers accepted that it was 'an unfortunate use of words'.
