THE HEALTH Service Executive is investigating the circumstances surrounding the drowning of an elderly patient in Co Donegal last Friday.
Paddy Keeney (87) was suffering from dementia and went missing from Killybegs Community Hospital hours before his body was recovered from the town’s harbour.
The HSE said it was “reviewing the circumstances” of the “sad death” of Mr Keeney “including his care needs”.
The Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) had raised concerns about the “open-door” policy at the hospital after an inspection in September 2009.
Its report found that the hospital’s “open-door” policy created “potential risks to patients with cognitive impairment who may leave unescorted”. It noted that a formal action plan had not been put in place.
However, the executive yesterday said a risk register had been in place at the hospital since July 2010.
Residents at Killybegs Community Hospital were “assessed” and “if their cognitive ability is found to be impaired, they are given an electronic tag”, the statement said.
The tag “alerts staff if the patient moves off the ward and enables staff to find the patient before they leave the ward area”, the statement noted.
Mr Keeney disappeared from the hospital shortly before noon on Friday. The 41-bed residential unit is on the second floor. The building is across the road from the sea at Donegal Road.
The Garda and the Coast Guard searched for Mr Keeney and they recovered his body from Killybegs Harbour at about 4.30pm.
The widower from Fintra Road, Killybegs, was buried yesterday in St Mary’s Cemetery, Killybegs.
The HSE and staff at the hospital “wish to express their condolences to the family and friends of Mr Keeney,” the executive’s statement said.
During the search for Mr Keeney, rescuers found the body of fisherman Michael McIntyre.
The fisherman and father of four from Malin Beg, Glencolmcille, Co Donegal, had not been reported missing.
Gardaí believe Mr McIntyre (50) drowned after slipping from the pier into the water when attempting to board a trawler. He was last seen on Wednesday night.
Mr McIntyre was buried yesterday at the cemetery of St Columba’s Church, Cashel, Co Donegal.
