A CONSULTANT yesterday told an inquest into the death of a woman who collapsed and died while waiting for a bed in the Mater hospital’s AE department that she had poorly controlled diabetes for over 20 years which put her at high risk of premature death.
Beverley Seville-Doyle (39), of Priory Walk, Manor Grove, Whitehall Road, Dublin, left her chair in the AE of the hospital shortly after 6am on January 15th, 2008 to use the toilet. She had been in the emergency department for 12 hours. Moments later the mother of three suffered a collapse and medical staff found her in an unconscious state with no pulse. She was later pronounced dead.
Consultant endocrinologist at the Mater hospital, Dr Richard Firth, told the inquest into her death at Dublin City Coroner’s Court yesterday that Ms Seville-Doyle, who was diagnosed with diabetes in 1983 at the age of 16, had poor diabetic control.
“Poor diabetes control for so long does put one at risk of premature death,” he said.
Ms Seville-Doyle was an extremely high risk for heart disease and “thrombotic events”, but was at low risk of developing a blockage in the lungs, he said.
Pathologist Dr Michelle Harrison found at postmortem that Ms Seville-Doyle had suffered a sudden cardiac death secondary to enlargement of the heart muscle tissue in a patient with diabetes and high blood pressure.
The inquest heard that Ms Seville-Doyle’s husband, Mr Charles Doyle will give evidence at the inquest on a future date.