Ombudsman disturbed at findings of study

OMBUDSMAN Emily O’Reilly has described as “disturbing” a recent study that highlighted the lack of consultation with a patient’s family when deciding whether or not to attempt resuscitation.

The study found that 58% of medical consultants nearly always discussed a patient’s resuscitation status with relatives; 37% said they did sometimes and 3% indicated that they almost never did.

“Just under 6% were not making resuscitation decisions at all, with some of them leaving it to junior doctors,” Ms O’Reilly told 200 members of the Irish Association of directors of Nursing and midwifery (IADNM) at their meeting in Tullamore, Co Offaly, yesterday.