THE FAMILY of a man who died in a Dublin nursing home yesterday expressed concern that their father, who was discovered to have had lung cancer at postmortem, was in excruciating pain before his death and should have been transferred to hospital.
John Bradley (81), of Belle Villa Community Unit, South Circular Road, Dublin, died of pneumonia secondary to locally advanced right bronchial squamous cell carcinoma at the nursing home on May 10th, 2006.
Speaking after the inquest was adjourned, Neville Bradley, son of the deceased, said the family wanted proper policies put in place in nursing homes so other patients with conditions like Alzheimer's and dementia, who could no longer verbalise their needs, were monitored and screened for cancer.
Nursing home manager Judy Vahey told the inquest that no such concerns had been brought to her attention by the family.
The inquest was adjourned until a date in June to allow the coroner, Dr Brian Farrell, to further consider the matter, although the coroner said he did not know how he could "put the matter further".
Mr Bradley's son, Neville, told the court the family were concerned that their father, who was unable to communicate, was in a lot of pain, particularly in the 2½ weeks before he died, and was not receiving adequate fluids or nutrition.
"It was absolutely horrifying for the family to witness that. We feel our father didn't get pain relief," said Mr Bradley.
On May 5th, a doctor at the facility, Dr Patrick Coughlan, met members of the deceased's family, who suggested that their father got intermittently agitated and that it might reflect pain.
Dr Coughlan told the inquest he accepted it might be a possibility and prescribed Durogesic patches to be used as a painkiller.
He believed the best was done for Mr Bradley under the circumstances and that the care provided for him had been very good.