Family told no doctor was available

FAMILY members of a man who died in hospital three days after he was transferred from a Dublin nursing home yesterday expressed concern that when they found their brother unwell in the home they were told a doctor would not be available until the following day.

William “Liam” Spenser, 61, of Newpark Care Centre, The Ward, Co Dublin, was transferred to James Connolly Memorial Hospital, Blanchardstown, by ambulance on December 12, 2007, after family members who were worried about him approached a community mental health nurse, attached to St Brendan’s Hospital.

His brother-in-law, Seamus Lannigan, told an inquest into Mr Spenser’s death at Dublin County Coroner’s Court yesterday that when relatives visited him on December 12 they found him semiconscious in an armchair and when they asked if he could see a doctor they were told not until the following day.