Hospice drugs errors ‘must be made public’

PATIENTS of a hospice and their families must be given the results of investigations into alleged life-threatening medication errors, a patient group demanded yesterday.

The call came after a senior consultant at the Galway Hospice accused staff of administering excessive doses of drugs to patients in more than 40 cases.

Dr Dympna Waldron claimed there had been:

* 15 serious life threatening errors/omissions.

* 25 serious drug errors.

Consultant in palliative medicine Dr Waldron said there was an unacceptably large number of drug errors and that the doses involved were dangerously high.

In a letter to her superiors, she added: “The number of occasions when repeat errors occurred in the administration of drugs to the same patient is extremely worrying.” She also said the alleged errors were not properly recorded. “Personal responsibility for repeated errors and poor practice must also be examined.”

The claims are part of a heated row at Galway Hospice which has resulted in the effective closure of the facility’s in-patient unit.

The Sunday Tribune yesterday reported that three separate complaints of bullying had been lodged against Dr Waldron.

Former chairman and founder of the Galway Hospice Foundation Dr Padhraic Ó Conghaile called on Dr Waldron to explain what special qualifications she brought to bear to validate her decision to close the unit.

The board of the hospice and the Western Health Board, which funds the in-patient unit, have set up separate investigations into the claims and the decision to close.