THE HEALTH Service Executive has taken court action against a nursing home in Waterford regarding the death of an Alzheimer’s sufferer who died days after swallowing latex gloves while in its care.
James Griffin (67), Cannon Street, Waterford, died on November 13th, 2008, five days after swallowing the gloves at Mowlam nursing home, Ballinakill Downs near the city.
William Fitzgerald, for the HSE, told Judge David Kennedy in the District Court yesterday that it was the executive’s position that Mowlam was in breach of nursing home care regulations.
The action, which relates to an alleged breach of the Nursing Home Act 1990, was taken following the death of Mr Griffin at Waterford Regional Hospital of cardiac arrest.
The court heard that Mr Griffin, who had been a patient at the home since 2007, was found unconscious by care assistants and with breathing irregularities on November 8th, 2008.
The care assistants performed cardio pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on Mr Griffin and told paramedics from the regional hospital that he had swallowed material earlier.
Paramedic Tony Madigan yesterday said that Mr Griffin had a “foreign body” in his airway at Mowlam.
This was removed with a forceps, while the patient had no pulse and was not breathing.
The administration of drugs finally worked and a cardiac output was noted.
He agreed that the assistants were giving Mr Griffin “adequate” CPR and that further medical care was necessary at Waterford Regional Hospital.
However, Mr Griffin never recovered and died at the hospital.
His brother, Brendan Griffin, complained to the HSE on December 5th and an investigation got under way on foot of that complaint.
An investigation team was set up, as per the 1990 act.
Under cross-examination from Shay Fleming, for Mowlam nursing home, Dr Brett Lynam, a HSE area medical officer who was part of a three-person unit set up to investigate the issue, said he was “not convinced that the care” at Mowlam “was sustainable and sufficient”.
Mr Griffin was “severely and cognitively impaired”, which made it hard to care for him.
He said that the patient “would undoubtedly have been confused, repeating himself over and over” and “asking the same questions”.
Mr Griffin, who was well enough to go walking in Woodstown [Co Waterford] with his brother, would have been “well enough to walk around the nursing home”, he said.
Dr Lynam said that “a collection of the gloves were found in his room on his bed”.
Dr Lynam visited the home in January, March, April and May of 2009.
It was suggested that the gloves were taken from an assisted bathroom on the first floor of the hospital, a unit for those suffering with Alzheimer’s and dementia.
“Gloves need to be sighted so that they can be accessible to staff but not where they are in danger of being ingested.”
When asked by Mr Fleming if it was normal practice for such gloves to be located in reachable areas of hospitals, Dr Lynam told him that Mowlam was “not an ordinary hospital”.
Answering a question from Judge Kennedy, Dr Lynam said that while he had never before experienced a patient eating gloves, he had seen them eating “sweet wrappers, paper and tin foil”.
Judge Kennedy adjourned the matter to May 11th.