The burial of two patients from a Dublin nursing home before death certificates were issued was raised in the Dáil yesterday, writes Eithne Donnellan
Fine Gael TD Fergus O'Dowd said nursing home regulations stated that when a person died in a nursing home, the person in charge must notify the area medical officer within 48 hours and a certified cause of death must be sent as soon as possible thereafter.
A letter he received from the HSE this week referred to a coroner having written to the former South Western Area Health Board about two patients from one nursing home who had been buried without death certificates.
The HSE said notification of death was sent in respect of one of the patients "almost five months after the death" and there was "no record" of notification having been received in respect of the other death.