THE FAMILY of a woman who collapsed and died while waiting for a bed in the A&E department of a Dublin hospital are to consider whether to take a civil action against the hospital following the conclusion of an inquest into her death yesterday.
Beverly Seville-Doyle (39), Whitehall Road, Dublin, left her chair in the Mater hospital AE at about 6.30am on January 15th, 2008, to use the toilet.
Minutes later, the mother of three, who had been admitted to the hospital more than 12 hours earlier at 5pm, collapsed in the toilet.
Medical staff, who were on the scene within moments, found Ms Seville-Doyle, who was diagnosed with type one diabetes in 1983 which was poorly controlled, deeply unconscious with no pulse and making no respiratory effort.
Attempts to resuscitate her continued for more than an hour and she was pronounced dead at 7.27am.
After summing up the evidence on day eight of the inquest, which opened in November 2008 and which has heard evidence from five doctors, two pathologists and three nurses, coroner Dr Brian Farrell yesterday told Dublin City Coroner’s Court that the cause of Ms Seville-Doyle’s death was an arrhythmogenic cardiac arrest (a heart attack associated with a cardiac rhythm problem), the exact cause of which was not established.
Hypertensive heart disease was not a factor and there was no “objective evidence of a major or significant” blood clot in the lungs, Dr Farrell found. Microscopic blood clots were identified in the lungs.
The coroner, who was also informed by the written reports of two expert witnesses, Prof Guy Rutty of Leicester University and Dr Mary Shepard of the Royal Bromptom and Harefield Hospital as part of the inquest, recorded a narrative verdict.
Ms Seville-Doyle was admitted to the AE on January 14th after she was found to be unwell and vomiting at a diabetes clinic. She was developing complications from her long-standing diabetes, including renal problems. She had been seen at the hospital two weeks earlier on December 29th with pain in her upper chest and arm, which was probably muscular-skeletal in origin, the inquest heard.
Addressing Ms Seville Doyle’s husband, Charles Doyle, and the other members of her family, including her mother Bridie Seville, at the end of what he described as, “a very difficult and long inquest,” the coroner expressed his deep condolences to them.
The couple’s children are 14, 12 and five years old.
Dr Farrell said he would engage with the faculty of pathology at the Royal College of Surgeons with regard to concerns raised by solicitor for the family Damien Tansey in relation to the autopsy and to recommendations he suggested. He would also make the expert witness reports available to the faculty.
Mr Tansey expressed concern that Dr Noel McIntaggart, who was involved in the postmortem, was only one year into his training as a pathologist and that notes kept during his work as part of the autopsy were destroyed afterwards to prevent contamination.
“It’s inconceivable and beggars belief that notes are not kept of the autopsy,” he said. “That practice should be abandoned.”
Mr Tansey said Dr Rutty has concerns of accuracy regarding Dr McIntaggarts report.
After the inquest on behalf of the family, Mr Tansey said the family were very happy that the process is at an end. “They will now reflect on the evidence and the verdict and a decision will be made in the not too distant future about the next step . . . a civil action against the hospital.”