The Dublin City Coroner, Dr Brian Farrell, is to write to the board of St James's Hospital asking that it put in place an effective "call-over system" for patients in the accident and emergency department to prevent undue delays.
He was commenting after a resumed inquest into the death of Ms Dorothy Hopkins (85), of Harcourt Residential Home, Harcourt Terrace, Dublin, in the hospital on December 16th last. Ms Hopkins had been left waiting in a wheelchair for more than 14 hours after she was admitted to the hospital as a result of a fall on a bus on December 13th.
At the earlier hearing, Mr Patrick Plunkett, consultant in charge of the accident and emergency unit, apologised to Ms Hopkins's family for the long delay before she was treated for a broken pelvis and a cut to her arm.
The inquest heard Ms Hopkins fell when a bus stopped suddenly and she was thrown against the front window. It was more than 14 hours before she was treated.
The jury returned a verdict of death by misadventure and recommended that the hospital put in place a system to identify patients who are deaf or hard of hearing. It was claimed during the inquest that Ms Hopkins had been called in the waiting area but did not respond. Her family said she had a hearing difficulty but was accompanied by staff from the home where she lived.
A post-mortem examination showed that Ms Hopkins died of damage to an area of her bowel caused by a drop in blood pressure and that this could be related back to the accident.