No report 16 months after care home death

IT IS more than 16 months since a Cork woman died of asphyxiation while strapped to a chair in a north Cork care hospital — yet the Health Service Executive (HSE) has still not completed its investigation of the events that lead to her death in its care.

On the day in question, 65-year-old Hannah Comber had been restless and wanted to get up. She was removed from her room at Heatherside Hospital, Buttevant, put into a restraint chair and taken to a day room.

The pensioner, a diagnosed schizophrenic who had been resident at the hospital for 15 years, eventually fell asleep in her chair. At about 5am, it was discovered that Ms Comber had slipped from the chair and it appeared that her neck had been compressed by the buckle of the restraining belt.