Portlaoise hospital takes ‘no action’ over doctors who refused to help man

The Midland Regional Hospital in Portlaoise has said it took "no action" after being told by one of its staff that two doctors refused to come to the assistance of a patient who collapsed near the front door in 2011.

Diabetes nurse Breda McEvoy told an inquest this week she asked two female doctors in the canteen to come to the aid of the patient who had collapsed nearby, but they refused because they were not on call.

Ms McEvoy then ran back out to the lobby, where she found other medical staff were tending to Christopher Marianayagam, who was taken to the emergency department.

He died in the hospital less than three weeks later.

Ms McEvoy completed an incident report form in relation to the event, but told the inquest she heard nothing more from the hospital.

Cardiac arrest

The hospital said yesterday the cardiac arrest team was called when Mr Marianayagam collapsed and commenced resuscitation. He was transferred by the team to the emergency department within 10 minutes.

In a statement, it said the incident report form was completed because of Mr Marianayagam’s collapse, “which is normal protocol”.

“No further action was taken with regard to this incident report form on the basis that the cardiac arrest team responded immediately to the incident.”

The Irish Times asked whether the doctors had been identified and reported to the Medical Council but the hospital's statement did not answer these questions directly.

‘Appropriate’ treatment

Mr Marianayagam, a 71-year-old Sri Lanka refugee with a history of diabetes and falls, was discharged from emergency 80 minutes before he collapsed, the hospital confirmed.

The hospital reviewed his management before he was discharged and concluded the care and treatment provided was “appropriate for the presenting condition,” according to the statement.

The Irish Times has seen an internal "desktop incident review form" which states the cause for Mr Marianayagam's dizziness and headache was "not identified".

“It is not clear whether this represented a failure to diagnose.”

“The patient did not give a history of syncope [fainting] and therefore his subsequent collapse could not be predicted . . . No omission of care could be identified.”

However, the inquest heard Mr Marianayagam attended Portlaoise’s emergency department several times between 2009 and 2011 after fainting and/or falling. As the report noted, he had no English.

At the inquest, the hospital accepted a family member should have been present when he was discharged.

The hospital yesterday extended its sympathy to his family and said it would consider the findings of the coroner in the inquest.