Family of pensioner who died after choking in nursing home settle case for €110k

By Ann O'Loughlin

The family of a pensioner who died after a choking incident in a nursing home dining room has settled its High Court action for €110,000.

The father of five and grandfather to nine Sean Cunningham (aged 73), who suffered from dementia Mr Justice Kevin Cross was told, was left alone to feed himself and choked to death.

Mr Cunningham who was residing at St Gabriel’s Nursing Home, Raheny, Dublin 5, his counsel Paul Burns SC said, was known to have difficulty eating.

Mr Cunningham's son John of Park Lawn, Clontarf , Dublin had sued SGNH Ltd, with offices at Warrington Place, Dublin, the owners of St Gabriel's Nursing Home, Raheny as a result of his father's death on December 16, 2014.

It was claimed Mr Cunningham who had been in the nursing home since August 2014, was wheeled in to the dining room at around 5pm on December 16, 2014.

It was further claimed he was left alone to feed himself and no staff member was present in the section of the room where Mr Cunningham was seated and which was separated from the front section by a wall.

Ten minutes later, a staff member heard a noise and discovered Mr Cunningham apparently choking and raised the alarm. Various attempts were made to clear Mr Cunningham's airway and CPR was also commenced, but the elderly man died shortly after admission to hospital.

It was claimed there was a failure to have any adequate care plan or any nutrition plan to address Mr Cunningham's known risk of choking and a failure to ensure his meals were supervised and he was assisted in eating.

It was also claimed there was a failure to communciate Mr Cunningham's risk of choking to all staff members having contact with him.

Mr Justice Kevin Cross was told liability had been admitted in the case.

Approving the settlement, Mr Justice Cross said he hoped it would bring some comfort to Mr Cunningham's family.

An inquest last year into the death of Mr Cunningham heard the pensioner suffered from dementia, with short-term memory problems following a brain tumour.

Mr Cunningham was admitted to Beaumont Hospital in April 2014 after he went missing and was later found in Galway. He had previously gone missing for two days while on holiday in Madrid.

The family were finding it increasingly difficult to care for him, Dublin Coroner’s Court heard and he was admitted to the nursing home after his stay in Beaumont Hospital.

A post-mortem found the cause of death was cardio respiratory arrest due to an episode of choking on a food bolus. Coroner Dr Myra Cullinane returned a verdict of misadventure.

The coroner noted the importance of documentation and communication between staff and recommended that a full handover is given and all observations are followed up in a health care setting.

The coroner affirmed the recommendations of an internal review conducted at the nursing home which included new dining room protocols regarding meal time supervision and a new emergency alert system.